


Stories from the In Between

by stardustpaths



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Animal Transformation, Bed & Breakfast, Dean/Cas Big Bang Challenge 2015, F/F, Fluff, Forests, Imaginary Friend Castiel, M/M, Magic, Past Abuse, Tattooed Castiel, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-02
Updated: 2015-10-02
Packaged: 2018-04-24 04:35:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 31,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4905661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardustpaths/pseuds/stardustpaths
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Dean inherits an old house after his grandfather dies it seems like a good opportunity to change something in his uneventful life. But as they say, be careful what you wish for. As soon as he moves in, he discovers that somebody already lives there. Suddenly he has to deal with an unexpected housemate - an imaginary friend with blue hair and a bunch of tattoos. An imaginary friend, who is of course real. Castiel turns Dean’s world upside down and that’s not even the end of surprises - there is a portal between worlds in the basement and a whole new universe to discover on the other side. This isn't the change Dean was looking for, but it may end up being the change he needed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Imaginary Friend

**Author's Note:**

> Big thanks to my awesome betas [Julia](http://closertoblasphemy.tumblr.com/) and [Bexy](http://hufflepuffdean.tumblr.com/) for helping me with everything and making sure I did my best, and also to my lovely artists [Cecilia](http://femmechester.tumblr.com/) and [Marisa](http://glaciergrace.tumblr.com/) for the gorgeous art they created!
> 
> I had so much fun writing this fic, I hope you have as much joy reading it!
> 
>  
> 
> [art post](http://femmechester.tumblr.com/post/130328870457/stories-from-the-in-between-ao3-by)
> 
>  
> 
> [DCBB community on livejournal](http://deancasbigbang.livejournal.com/)

Every story has a beginning. Sometimes it’s a big and colorful event, something that will be remembered for years to come and shared in many tales. Other times it’s a tiny, seemingly unremarkable moment, easy to miss if someone’s not paying enough attention. No matter how it begins, it has to begin somewhere. This story, as you can expect, is no different.

For Dean Winchester it began on a rainy summer day when he parked his car in front of a large, three-story house, hidden behind a bunch of old beeches and black locusts, and a couple of untended azalea shrubs. The house didn’t exactly look ominous with its white siding and small front porch, but there was something hard to grasp about it that nevertheless sent shivers down Dean’s spine.

Maybe it was the knowledge that it had stood empty for many years, without anyone to breathe life into it. Or maybe Dean had second thoughts about the whole thing after all. Everything had happened so fast he had a hard time wrapping his head around it. Henry Winchester’s death had been unexpected, especially to his two estranged grandsons, who’d never met him. Even more unexpected had been his will leaving them with a quite impressive amount of money and a mysterious nineteenth century house just outside of Lawrence, Kansas.

Henry hadn’t lived there and he hadn’t rented it to anyone, so the fact that he’d kept it at all was puzzling. He probably had been rich enough that keeping an empty house hadn’t mattered much, but whatever his reasons were, he’d taken them to the grave, and Dean could only guess what purpose the house served.

Sam had suggested they should sell it. Sam had his life already figured out, interning at a law firm and living in Palo Alto with his lovely girlfriend Jess, so of course he didn’t want an old house in another state. Dean, on the other hand, didn’t know what he wanted. For a long time his main focus was putting Sam through school and now when Sam could fend for himself, Dean had no idea what to do next. His work as a mechanic at Singer Salvage had been okay, and Bobby had been a great boss, but the longer he’d worked there, the more stuck he’d felt. The lack of direction made him feel restless, itching inside for something, anything, to happen. And maybe a new house in a new city could be that something.

Sam had shaken his head with a disbelieving sigh when Dean had told him about his decision, but in the end he didn’t stop him, and Dean could be thankful for that. Before he knew it, the house was his and he was sitting in the car outside, eyeing the door warily through a wet window. The place had a vaguely creepy vibe that Dean couldn’t put his finger on, and he wouldn’t admit it out loud, but it was scaring him a bit.

He sighed loudly, accompanied by rain pounding in the roof of the car. He couldn’t spend the whole day sitting in there, contemplating his sad and uneventful life. Not wanting to drag the moment out any longer, he got out of the car and ran to the porch of the house, using his hand to shield his head from the downpour.

The air outside smelled of wet plants and soil. The branches of the trees moved with the wind, the damp leaves glistening with water. The grounds around the house were unkempt, but they still had a lot of charm, and after spending the last few years around Bobby’s scrapyard it was nice to be surrounded by so much greenery. There was even enough space to start a vegetable garden in the future, if he wanted.

The door squeaked when Dean opened it, and he made a mental note to grease the hinges. All his belongings were already there, neatly packed in cardboard boxes stacked in a heap on the floor right behind the entrance. He left them there as they were, not wanting to unpack just yet.

He wandered aimlessly through the house, taking off the covers of the furniture, and cataloging all the small things that needed fixing. The sound of rain was much quieter inside, and easy to tune out. The door to one of the bedrooms was stuck and Dean couldn’t open it no matter how hard he tried, but overall the house seemed to be in a good state, despite its age. It must have been renovated semi-recently, and Dean privately thanked Henry Winchester for that.

Deep weariness settled into Dean’s bones, as he entered room after room, his fingers tracing old wooden surfaces, his eyes sweeping the walls with long glances. To tell the truth, the place was far too big for one person, and Dean had no idea what to do with all that space. Maybe he should get a pet. Or ten.

There was a small patch of mold on the ceiling in the last bedroom. He decided that was his room anyway, because what was life without a bit of danger in it?

\---

A noise woke Dean up. He lay with his eyes closed, listening to the silence, trying to catch what it was. A bird? Maybe a dog barking somewhere in the distance? But everything was quiet now; even the rain had stopped. It had to be pretty early. He turned to the side, stretching lazily. Sunlight coming from the window made his eyelids look red from the inside; he squeezed his eyes to shut it out.

The floorboards creaked and a dark shape blocked the light, making Dean jump. His heart sped up. Somebody was in the room. Somebody who shouldn’t be there. He remembered locking the front door before he went to sleep. Did someone break in?

Dean abruptly opened his eyes, moving back on his elbows to face the intruder.

A scruffy guy with messy dark hair stared back at him like _Dean_ was the one who broke into someone’s house. His pink shirt was rumpled, its sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He stood close enough for Dean to see that his eyes were unbelievably blue, bringing to mind a deep ocean. Dean would be happy to appreciate his good looks if only he wasn’t a total stranger doing who knows what in Dean’s room.

“What the fuck?” Dean almost shouted. “What are you doing in my bedroom?”

The man narrowed his eyes, seemingly unfazed. “What are you doing in my _house_?”

Dean raised his eyebrows. “Okay dude, last time I’ve checked it was _my_ house. Who the hell are you?”

“Castiel,” the guy introduced himself. “I’m an imaginary friend.”

Dean snorted. It had to be the dumbest excuse he’d ever heard. “Yeah, right. Now imagine yourself out of my house before I call the police.”

Castiel didn’t move. “No.”

“What?” Dean couldn’t believe he heard that right.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Castiel answered calmly, folding his arms. “I’ve lived here much longer than you. This is my place.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Dean groaned, hiding his face in his hands. Of course, his first night in the new house had to end with a weirdo in his bedroom refusing to leave. Just his luck. At least the guy didn’t look dangerous. But who knows, maybe he was secretly a murderer or something.

“You don’t believe me.” It was more a statement than a question.

Dean wanted to laugh. How was this his life? “You just said you were an _imaginary friend_!”

Castiel shrugged. “It’s true,” he said, vanishing in a puff of swirling smoke. In his place appeared a large black cat, looking at Dean with a smug expression. Before Dean had a chance to react the cat also vanished, and Castiel reappeared in the armchair on the other side of the room. His arms were covered with dark lines of tattoos that Dean could swear hadn’t been there before. “I can re-imagine myself at will. Do you believe me now?”

“Holy shit. This can’t be real.” Dean felt lightheaded, not sure if he could process what had just happened. His mind tried hard to supply any possible explanation of what he’d seen, but there wasn’t one. It could be a hallucination, but except for the shock he felt fine, and Castiel looked as real as any human would. Then again, if it was a hallucination, would he be able to tell the difference?

“It’s too early for this. I need coffee,” he mumbled, getting up and heading downstairs. Castiel followed after him without a word, padding through the corridor barefoot.

“So, are you some kind of ghost or…?” Dean asked awkwardly, rummaging through the boxes to find his coffee maker. He was completely out of his depth here.

Castiel had the audacity to roll his eyes. “I told you. I’m an imaginary friend. Being a ghost would indicate that I was human at some point of my existence. And I never was,” he explained.

Dean finally found the coffee maker, a mug, and a coffee jar and moved to the kitchen. “Someone has literally imagined you?” he asked. There was a high chance he was losing his mind, but when he moved past how bizarre the situation was, he had to admit it was kind of interesting.

“Yes,” Castiel said, propping himself against the counter. Dean pretended he didn’t ogle his tattoos, but the complex pattern of flowers, bees and birds wrapping around his arms was truly captivating. “It was years ago though. I belong to myself now.”

Dean had absolutely no idea what that meant. “And you live here?”

Castiel sighed, looking around. “I was drawn here because this house is a place of power. There’s a lot of old magic in those walls. I feel most alive near spots like this.”

Magic in the walls? What the fuck. “And let me guess, there’s no chance of me getting rid of you,” Dean said grumpily.

“You’re right, there isn’t.” Castiel didn’t look like he felt even a little bit remorse about this. “Do you intend to stay for long?”

Dean groaned, placing his mug next to the working coffee maker. “I intend to _live_ here.”

Castiel frowned. “Unfortunate. I guess both of us need to try to make the best of it. What’s your name?”

“Dean,” Dean said weakly. He wanted to go back to bed and wake up in a place where this wasn’t his reality.

“Okay, then. Dean, I hope you get a library card because I’ve already read all the books in the house. I could use something new,” Castiel said, like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Dean opened and closed his mouth. “You want me to get you _books_?”

Castiel nodded. “That’s the thought, yes.”

“Okay, okay. You know what? This is too much.” Dean brushed a hand across his mouth. “I need-- I need a moment. Can you-- Can you just imagine yourself somewhere else for a while?”

“If you think that’s going to help,” Castiel said, shrugging, and disappeared without any further comments.

Dean hid his head in his hands. He should’ve stayed in Sioux Falls, working for Bobby. Everything was so much easier just a day ago. Now he had a new housemate who wasn’t even human and there was apparently magic in the walls of his new house. He didn’t sign up for this.

\---

Dean stopped the car in the middle of a dirt road, rubbing his eyes. Fields stretched around him all the way to the horizon, golden wheat rustling softly in the wind. The sky was almost cloudless, the sun shining brightly. A perfect day for a mental breakdown.

He’d gotten out of the house as soon as he’d finished his coffee, wanting to be as far away from that place as possible, and had driven aimlessly for the next few hours in hopes it would calm him down. It hadn’t worked so far.

How was he supposed to deal with the whole situation? Castiel shouldn’t be there. He shouldn’t even exist. And if he was real, who knows what else was real too? There was a whole new, enormous reality opening before Dean, and he’d only scratched it on the surface. He still wasn’t sure if he believed in it, but the alternatives weren’t any better.

Maybe he should find a way to get rid of Castiel, and forget about everything. The house belonged to him after all, and Castiel had no right to be there. The thing was, he had no idea where to look for any sort of information. There was no one to ask, and no one who would actually believe him. He had to at least try to do something though, or he would be stuck with an unwanted housemate for good.

He turned the car around and drove back to the city, heading for a library. He doubted he would find anything there, but he was desperate enough to give it a shot.

The library was quiet and almost empty, just a few people milling around between the bookshelves. The librarian gave Dean a weird look when he asked if they had any books about imaginary friends, and pointed him to the fantasy section, which obviously was no help. After an hour of searching all Dean had found was a questionable guidebook for concerned parents and some pamphlets for children, nothing of real value.

He visited three more libraries, without any luck. The internet wasn’t much help either, search results showing mostly articles that treated imaginary friends as figments of imagination, and a few creepy ghost stories that didn’t look real.

After the fourth library Dean sat back in the car resigned, closing his eyes to think. It was late afternoon, and it looked like his only options were to leave the house, or get used to having Castiel there. He certainly wasn’t going back to Sioux Falls. It would be like giving up, not to mention he wouldn't be able to explain to Bobby why he changed his mind. But the thought of living with someone’s imaginary friend scared the crap out of him, and he would give a lot not to have to consider it.

He booked a motel room for the night, not ready to face Castiel and still unsure what to do. It started raining again in the evening, and he tossed and turned in bed, listening to the thunder outside. Why couldn’t something be simple for once? He’d had enough of hard choices to make - running away from his drunk of a father, not going to college so Sam could go instead, and deciding to stay in Sioux Falls when Sam moved to Palo Alto. Just to name a few. Moving to Lawrence was supposed to open a new, better chapter in his life, and the truth was it already sucked. Maybe his whole life was destined to be a failure.

He fell asleep sometime later, lulled by the pitter-patter of the rain that fell steadily on the motel roof. A blond-haired woman smiled to him in his dreams, stretching out her arms, waiting for him to come closer. He stood just out of her reach, unable to move, his legs made of lead. A word was stuck in his throat, making him retch and cough spasmodically. “Mom,” he finally whispered. She didn’t seem to hear.

The morning brought a sudden change to Dean’s point of view. He had to be losing his mind after all, because as soon as he woke up, his neck stiff from the too-hard bed, living with Castiel didn’t sound that bad anymore. It wasn’t like having a housemate was uncommon, even if those housemates usually weren’t magical beings. Who knows, maybe having company would actually be good for him. He could at least try it for a few days, see how it would feel. Hopefully he wasn’t going to regret it.

\---

“You’re back.” Castiel appeared as soon as Dean closed the door behind him. “I thought that maybe you ran away.”

Dean rubbed his neck. He wasn’t going to admit what he’d been doing the whole previous day. “I’m not _that_ easy to scare off,” he grumbled.

“Good to know,” Castiel said with a half-smile. His eyes fell to the cardboard boxes on the floor. “I could help you unpack,” he added after a pause. “And clean the house. I never cared for it myself, but I could help with that too. If you want, of course.”

“What happened to my presence being ‘unfortunate’?” Dean asked, raising his eyebrows. The offer was unexpected, but to tell the truth he could use some help; the whole place was dusty as hell, and it would take an eternity if he had to clean it on his own.

Castiel shrugged. “I told you, I’m willing to make the best of it. There’s no reason we can’t try to share the house.”

“Well, technically I own it and you’re trespassing,” Dean pointed out.

“I was talking from my point of view,” Castiel said in a matter-of-fact tone. “You can’t do anything about me being here. You don’t have that kind of power.”

“Fair point.” Dean grimaced. It was hard to admit, but unless Castiel’s weak spot was contained within badly written guidebooks for parents, he was right. “Okay. You can help.”

They started with the first floor, working in silence, dusting everything off and mopping the floors. The house creaked and groaned, making Dean think of a purring cat. Who knew, maybe the house was happy that someone finally took care of it. It wouldn’t surprise Dean at this point.

Seeing Castiel with a mop and a bucket of water somehow made it easier to accept his presence. The whole situation still weirded Dean out, but he was already more at ease than a day ago. Castiel's good looks also helped, in a way. Dean did his best not to glance at him too often, but he couldn’t deny he checked out his butt a few times. What could he say? It was a nice butt, and he couldn’t really help himself.

“Hey, do you know why the door to that one room upstairs is stuck?” Dean asked sometime later, to distract himself from thinking too much about Castiel's body parts.

Castiel stopped mopping the floor and looked at Dean. “That room is mine.”

“Oh.” Dean should’ve guessed that. “So do you need some kind of a password to open it? Like ‘Open Sesame’?” he asked half-jokingly.

“No.” Castiel frowned. “It’s locked with a key.”

“No magic? Really?” Dean said with disappointment. What was the point of having a magic house when they still needed keys to lock the doors?

Castiel sighed, looking up. Dean tried not to be offended. “I’m assuming you don’t know anything about magic. It feeds on your energy. It would be a waste to use that energy when you can simply use a key.”

“You got me,” Dean shrugged. “Until yesterday I didn’t think magic actually existed. If someone told me two days ago that the house I inherited was ‘a place of power’ or whatever, I would probably laugh at them.”

“At least you’re making some progress, you didn’t laugh at me.”

“Gee, thanks, man,” Dean huffed. “I wonder if my grandpa knew,” he added after a while.

“Your grandpa?” Castiel furrowed his brow.

“The house was his,” Dean explained, swiping dust off a bookshelf. It rose in a cloud, making his throat itch. “He left it to me and my brother after he died,” he said, after a few coughs.

Castiel narrowed his eyes. “He never talked about it?”

“I didn’t know him,” Dean admitted. “He and my father… didn’t end their relationship on best terms. Some shit went down between them before my birth, I don’t know the details.” John Winchester barely spoke about Henry when he was still around, and all Dean could remember from his childhood were John’s drunken tirades what a terrible person his father was. It was surprising that Henry had even known he had grandsons.

Castiel propped himself on the mop handle. “He never visited the house since I got here,” he said. “There was a group of workers some time ago that renovated the place, but I never showed myself to them. They left after a few months. At some point I started hoping no one would ever move in.”

“Sorry to ruin your hopes,” Dean said, not even remotely sorry. “So, why did you show yourself to me but not to those workers?”

“They didn’t look like they were here to stay.” Castiel went back to mopping the floor. “And you took my second favorite room in the house, I was going to tell you how outrageous it was.”

Dean snorted. “Well, you can forget about making me move.”

“You can have it. I feel generous today.” Castiel grinned.

“So, how long have you been here?” Dean asked, putting last of the books back on the shelf.

Castiel scratched his head, looking in the distance. “Twenty years, maybe more.”

“Shit. That’s a lot of time.” Dean couldn’t even imagine being alone for that long.

“It is.” Castiel nodded, and paused for a while. “It’s going to be interesting, living with someone.”

“Yeah,” Dean agreed quietly, saying it more to himself than to anyone else.

The silence fell again, more comfortable than before. They were done with the first floor an hour later, and moved to the second, talking from time to time. Castiel wasn’t that bad, if Dean was honest with himself. Maybe they could really make this work somehow.

The sun was setting, dark shadows growing longer, when they finished cleaning all the bedrooms. All that was left were the bathrooms, the attic and the basement, and Dean suggested they should leave it for another day, stretching his sore muscles. Castiel agreed, though he didn’t seem tired at all, and Dean envied him a little for that.

“If that’s all, I’m going to be in my room. You can knock if you want something,” Castiel said after putting the mop back in the bathroom downstairs. “I may even open.”

Dean looked for a snarky remark, but he remembered something before anything came to his mind. “I-- uh. I have something for you,” he said, and jogged to his car, leaving Castiel confused in the middle of a corridor.

When he got back he was holding a book. “It’s _Snow Crash_ by Neal Stephenson,” he said, handing it to bewildered Castiel. “I loved reading it and I thought that maybe you would like it too.” For some reason Dean suddenly felt very embarrassed. It was probably a mistake.

Castiel looked at him with a hard to read expression. “I didn’t think you would actually bring me anything. Thank you.”

“No problem.” Dean didn’t know what to do with his hands, a warm feeling rising in his chest. It was ridiculous. He knew the guy for merely two days, not to mention the said guy was an intruder in his house. Everything could only go downhill from there. Fucking imaginary friends with their blue eyes, messy hair, and elaborate tattoos.


	2. The Portal

For the next few days Dean had his hands full. He greased the hinges in the front door, fixed the kitchen sink and the leaking shower in the upstairs bathroom, rearranged furniture in the living room, and did a few other odd jobs around the house. Castiel helped with some of it, and Dean appreciated it a lot. It was nice to have another pair of hands to do the work, someone he could to talk to instead of spending the whole time alone with his thoughts.

Dean discovered with surprise that Castiel was a good listener. Even with his sarcastic remarks and bluntness, talking to him was a lot easier than Dean had imagined. Sometimes their conversations were still awkward but it wasn’t unexpected; they were just getting to know each other after all. They talked about everything from books through astronomy to the current weather. Dean told Cas a little about working for Bobby and about Sam, not hiding how proud he was of his brother. Castiel seemed to be genuinely interested in what Dean had to say, and shared a few things about magic in return. Like stuff about unicorns.

“So you say unicorns don’t fart rainbows?” Dean asked, disappointed. They were in the middle of cleaning out the attic, browsing memorabilia they found there, and imagining who it had all belonged to. Dean discovered a small glass figurine of a horned horse, which was what prompted Cas to share some unicorn facts with him.

“No Dean, they’re very majestic ancient creatures, why would they do that?” Castiel frowned.

“I don’t know.” Dean shrugged. “But it would be kinda cool if they did. Hey, look at this,” he said, brushing the dust off a stack of black and white photos. They looked old, their edges faded.

Cas moved closer, looking over Dean’s shoulder, as Dean browsed the photos. A lot of them pictured a young, pretty woman with her hair pinned up and a broad smile on her lips. “I wonder who she was.” Cas said, thoughtful. “What life she had in this house.”

“She looks so full of energy,” Dean said. “I bet she threw killer parties sometime around late forties.” Part of him wished his grandpa were still alive, so he could shine some more light on their findings. But who knew, maybe he would be in the dark the same as they were. And maybe the imagined stories were all Dean and Cas needed anyway.

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows though. He and Cas still had some adjustment issues, like Dean blasting loud music at eight in the morning when Castiel was trying to sleep, or Cas leaving empty milk cartons in the fridge. Both of those problems were ridiculous if you asked Dean, because Castiel didn’t need sleep or food, so why did he even bother? Cas didn’t dignify him with an explanation.

Anyway, it was nothing in comparison to the event Dean would forever describe as _the worst_ but also _very hot_ in his anecdotes. It happened maybe a week after he moved into the house and left a permanent scar on his unprepared mind, as he liked to point out. He was on his way to the kitchen to grab something to eat when a sudden movement in the living room caught his eye. He turned that way by reflex, and saw Castiel bending over in some weird position, his hands touching the floor.

The first thing Dean noticed was that for some reason Cas had blue hair now. The change looked good on him and somehow fit very well with the whole imaginary friend image in Dean’s head. The second thing was a tattoo taking up his whole back - a big, leafy tree, and a deer standing next to it, small birds nestled in its antlers. It was pretty impressive with all the small details and precise lines; Cas had had to put a lot of thought into imagining it. The third thing Dean noticed was that Castiel was completely, utterly naked.

“ _Oh my god_ ,” Dean choked out, unable to look away, still eyeing tattoo on Cas’ back, which was dangerously close to his ass.

“Is there a problem, Dean?” Castiel asked, raising one of his legs up, his voice calm.

Dean made a vague gesture, pointing at him. “You’re fucking naked!”

Castiel sighed, putting his leg back on the floor and raising the other one. “Yes. I find practicing yoga naked most rewarding.”

Dean opened and closed his mouth a few times. He couldn’t believe they were having this conversation. “I don’t know how to break it to you, but I live in this house too.”

“Does this make you uncomfortable?” Cas asked, changing his position again, so that he was touching the floor only with his hands, muscles flexing under his tattooed skin. Dean felt a wave of heat just from watching it.

“No! _Yes_. I don’t know!” he grumbled. “Can’t you just imagine some clothes on?” He honestly couldn’t tell how he felt about it, but naked yoga in the living room wasn’t a thing you do after living with someone for a week. There were _rules_ for god’s sake!

“As you wish,” Castiel said, rolling his eyes, and a second later loose yoga pants appeared on his legs. Just when Dean thought the crisis was averted, Cas added, “I think you should take care of your erection, Dean.”

“Unbelievable!” Dean threw his arms in the air and stormed out to hide in his room.

\---

Dean lay on his bed, doing his best to pretend he wasn’t embarrassed about the whole situation, and definitely _not_ replaying it in his head. He had to admit though, Castiel looked so damn good it was almost unbelievable. If Dean didn’t know any better, he would suspect he was already crushing on the guy a little. Which he wasn’t, because that would be a total disaster. Nothing good could come from pining over an imaginary friend.

He looked at the ceiling, his eyes focusing on the patch of mold. He wasn’t sure whether it was just his imagination or not, but it looked slightly bigger than a week ago. Another thing to take care of, right after fixing the falling out socket in the kitchen.

There were still so many things to do in the house, and he probably should start looking for a job sometime soon, because Henry’s money weren’t going to last forever. Maybe that would keep him occupied enough not to think about Castiel too much.

A faint scratch came from under his bed. At first Dean thought that he imagined it, but the scratch came back after a few seconds, a little louder. After the third scratch he was completely sure that something was hiding in there. He just hoped it wasn’t another imaginary friend.

He got up with a groan and kneeled next to the bed, looking under it. Small black eyes looked back at him, their furry owner nestled in the far corner near the wall, its snout moving rapidly. Dean had absolutely no idea what it was and what it was doing in his room, but it wasn’t going to stay there for long, that’s for sure. He slowly stretched his arm to catch the animal, trying not to scare it with too fast movements. The little monster surged forward, its teeth scraping Dean’s hand.

“ _Fuck!_ ” Dean muttered, backing away. Of course his fucking house was trying its best to make his life harder. First an imaginary friend, and now this. What the hell was it anyway?

After a minute or two of debating with himself Dean swallowed his pride and went to look for Castiel. He found him still in the living room, this time thankfully completely dressed. He sat in the armchair, reading _Snow Crash_. Something in Dean’s stomach bounced happily at the sight.

“Did you stop sulking already?” Castiel asked, looking up from his book, his face blank, but there was something in his eyes that made Dean suspect he was laughing on the inside. Damn imaginary friends.

“There’s something under my bed,” he mumbled, ignoring Cas’ question.

Cas raised his eyebrows with a half-smile. “You need someone to check if there’s a monster under your bed?”

“Don’t you dare to laugh at me! That thing bit me!” Dean argued, showing Cas small marks of teeth on the back of his hand. “I just hope it isn’t rabid.” He shuddered.

Castiel studied him for a while. “Okay, fine. I’ll go and see what it is.” He put the book away and got up, heading towards Dean’s room. Dean followed right after him.

Of course, Castiel had no trouble with getting the little monster out. The blackball of fur actually _purred_ when he held it in his arms. “You got yourself a dreameater,” he said, showing the animal to Dean.

“A _what?_ ” Dean asked, frowning.

“A dreameater,” Cas repeated. “Dreameaters feed on human dreams. That’s why people can’t remember them later,” he explained.

“Just great.” Dean rubbed his face with his hands. Even his dreams weren’t safe now. On the other hand he didn’t remember dreaming about his mom since the night in the motel, which was probably for the best.

“They’re mostly harmless,” Castiel continued. “And they like cheese a lot. You can feed it to them instead, so they would leave your dreams alone.”

“How did it even got here?” Dean grimaced. “It doesn’t look like something pest control has to deal with on daily basis.”

“They’re not that uncommon, though they usually don’t show themselves to people.” Cas gently scratched the dreameater behind its ears. “This one here probably got drunk on all the magic coursing through the walls and that caused him to become visible.”

“What’s with this house and magic anyway?” Dean asked grumpily.

“I keep forgetting that you moved in not knowing anything about it.” Cas scrunched his nose. “The power comes mostly from the unused portal in the basement. As far as I can tell the house was built around it.”

More magical shit. Awesome. At this point Dean wouldn’t be surprised if Santa Claus was real and squatting somewhere in the attic. “Do I even want to ask?”

Castiel shrugged. “It leads to another dimension. I can show you where it is.”

\---

Before heading to the basement they took the dreameater to the kitchen. Dean gave it a large chunk of cheese, which it started nibbling cheerfully after a few curious sniffs.

“Uh, I would be happier if it was out of the house,” Dean said, looking at the dreameater with disapproval.

“Hmph.” Cas got a weirdly sad look at the suggestion. “I think it should stay.”

“Don’t look like that at me, Cas,” Dean grumbled. Sad look on Castiel’s face intensified. “All right, fine, it can stay,” Dean said, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender. “At least for the time being,” he added. He preferred not to think what it meant that Cas already had that kind of power over him.

The air in the basement was cold and musty, the smell bringing to mind a pile of dirty socks. Unlike the rest of the house it looked like nobody had been there in the last couple of years, the corridors full of old cobwebs blackened with dust. The whole place needed some serious cleaning, and it was bad enough that Dean bumped it a few positions up on his mental to do list, as he followed Castiel in the faint glow of the flashlight.

Cas led them to a room at the end of the corridor, entering after a small struggle with the rusty door. The room looked much older than the rest of the house; the walls were covered in strange symbols carved in the stone, a faint blue glow coming from some undefined direction. In the middle of the room stood an empty archway, leading seemingly to nowhere. The air was almost tangibly charged with energy.

“Holy shit.” Dean moved closer, fascinated by the mysterious carvings. It was hard to believe they were still in his basement, and not some other world. “Do you know what’s on the other side?”

“Not exactly.” Cas shook his head. “It’s never opened for me.”

“So how do you know it’s even working?” Dean asked, touching the stone. A silent impulse of energy spread through the room, the blue glow intensifying. Suddenly the space under the archway turned into something resembling a liquid surface. “Fuck.” Dean moved back. This definitely wasn’t his intention.

“I guess I know now,” Castiel said with a shrug. “And there’s one way to find out what’s on the other side,” he added and stepped under the arch before Dean had a chance to stop him. A series of ripples crossed the surface of the portal as he disappeared.

“Dammit,” Dean groaned. He was going to have to follow after Cas, wasn’t he? This day was just getting better and better. He took a deep breath and made a step forward, not sure what to expect. A sense of vertigo overwhelmed him for a few seconds, and then, just like that, he was standing in a completely different room, Castiel’s back right in front of him.

“You could at least warn me before doing something reckless,” Dean grumbled, looking around. It seemed that they were in some kind of a wooden cellar, filled with jars, bottles, and bags of potatoes. A little underwhelming, if Dean had to be honest.

“I’ll try to remember that in the future,” Castiel replied, not particularly bothered by Dean’s request. “Come on, let’s check out what’s upstairs.” He pulled Dean’s sleeve, pointing at the stairs.

“Ugh. Fine,” Dean agreed. What could possibly go wrong? Except for _everything_ , that is.

Upstairs was, as they discovered, a backroom of a bar. Nothing interesting, but Castiel stayed behind, reading the label of some bottle he picked up, as Dean moved to explore the front, both hoping and dreading to find the owner there. How were they going to explain their presence in there if they bumped into anyone? Would they even be able to communicate in the same language? It was kind of scary how unprepared they were for that trip. Dean could just hope it wouldn’t bite them in their asses.

Suddenly something hard pressed against the small of his back, making him jump slightly.

“Oh god, please let that be a rifle,” he said to the person behind his back.

“No, I'm just real happy to see you,” a young female voice answered. “Don't move.”

“Okay, I’m not moving,” Dean agreed, his mind racing. “But you should know one thing,” he continued. “When you put a rifle on someone, you don't want to put it right against their back. Because it makes it real easy…” He turned swiftly, grabbing the rifle out of the girl’s hands. “...to do that.” There weren’t many things he could be grateful for to his father, but in this moment he thanked John Winchester for the army training he put his too-young sons through. Even if it was completely fucked up, it came in handy sometimes.

The girl looked at him, unimpressed, locks of blond hair falling down her shoulders, and punched him in the face, effortlessly getting her rifle back, as he doubled over. Fucking great.

“Shit! Cas, a little help maybe?” he shouted, hoping that Cas would be able to do something about the situation.

“I don’t think I’m in a position to help you right now, Dean,” Castiel answered, entering the room, hands behind the back of his head. A middle aged woman followed after him, gun pointed at his back.

“Now, what the hell the two of you are doing in my bar?” the woman said.

“We, uh.” Dean swallowed. What was he supposed to say? The truth wasn’t exactly very believable. On the other hand they had to notice the big stony arch in their cellar, so maybe they also knew what it was. “We came through the portal.”

“The portal?” The woman furrowed her brow. “That old thing is active again?”

“I guess accidentally activated it today,” Dean admitted.

“Okay, almost no one here knows about that portal, so let’s say I believe you,” the woman sighed as she lowered her gun. The girl followed her example. “Just don’t try to cause any trouble or I _will_ shoot you. My name is Ellen, this is my daughter Jo. We run the Roadhouse together.”

“I’m Dean and this is Castiel,” Dean introduced them, relaxing a little. Maybe this wasn’t going to be a total disaster. “Apparently we traveled here from another dimension. World. Whatever.”

“So you’re the new owner of the portal house?” Jo asked.

“I guess.” Dean shrugged.

“Did you know the previous one?” Castiel asked with interest.

“When I was a little kid a woman from your world used to come here from time to time,” Ellen said. “Her name was Josie Sands, I think. She stopped after a few years though, and no one else came after that. Until today, that is.”

“I think we might’ve found some photos of her in the house.” Castiel narrowed his eyes. “Do you know why she stopped?”

“No, I’m sorry.” Ellen shook her head.

“I think they should talk to Princess Gilda, Mom,” Jo suggested.

“Who’s Princess Gilda?” Dean asked.

“Princess Gilda is our ruler. She’s a fairy,” Jo explained. “And she knows about this portal.”

Ellen nodded. “Jo will take you to her, she probably knows more about its history than we do.”

Dean looked at Cas to make sure they were on the same page. Castiel nodded gently. “Okay, then let’s go and see Princess Gilda,” Dean said, clapping his hands against his thighs.

As soon as they left the Roadhouse, Dean’s jaw dropped to the ground. All around them grew giant trees, moss hanging from their branches. A whole city was carved in their massive trunks, buildings linked by wooden bridges and platforms. The faint sunlight coming from above was backed by strings of lanterns hung between the trees, illuminating cobblestone streets twisting among the roots. The place was bustling with people, coming and going in all directions. Some of them were clearly not human, as Dean noticed when a deer-like woman moved past him. It was breathtaking and overwhelming and unbelievable, and it made him dizzy just trying to process everything.

“Welcome to Old Grove, guys!” Jo said, spreading her arms.

“This is awesome!” Dean looked around in awe, breathing in an earthy smell of the forest. Inside the Roadhouse everything looked so _normal_ that the thought of being in another world didn’t sink in properly, but now he could barely believe he was really there. Maybe crossing the portal was worth it after all, at least to see all of this. Even Cas seemed to be somewhat impressed, an almost-smile dancing on his lips.

“Right?” Jo grinned. “Wait till you see the palace,” she said, leading them down one of the paths.

“How big is this forest?” Cas asked with interest, catching up with her. “I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”

“I don’t know exactly.” Jo shook her head. “But you can travel through it for days before reaching the edge.”

“I want to see how far it stretches,” Castiel said, without a warning turning into a crow. Before anyone had a chance to react, he flew away, disappearing in the tree crowns. Jo stopped in the middle of the road to cast Dean a questioning look. Other people around them didn’t seem to care. They were probably used to stuff like that.

“He’s an imaginary friend,” Dean offered with a sigh, like this explained everything. He wasn’t even surprised anymore, so he might as well just go along with it. Probably the best thing he could do not to go crazy.

A few minutes later Cas landed next to him and changed back into his human form. “The view was very compelling,” he said, brushing off a stray leaf from his shoulder. “Though you were right, I couldn’t see the edge of the forest.”

“Why didn’t you reimagine yourself into something useful when Ellen and Jo caught us?” Dean asked. “Like, I don’t know, a bulletproof vest?”

“We weren’t in an actual danger,” Castiel stated calmly. “Jo and Ellen weren’t going to shoot us. Besides, I can’t turn myself into an object.”

“Hey, don’t be so sure about that!” Jo interrupted, as she resumed walking. “One wrong move and I still can shoot you!” she said without any real threat in her voice.

Castiel seemed unfazed by Jo’s words. “Your bullets wouldn’t harm me anyway, I’m not human. I just went along with the situation out of courtesy.”

“Well, I’m human and punching me was enough for today, thanks,” Dean muttered, following after them.

\---

The palace was truly magnificent, carved in a tree even wider than all the others, and full of mossy balconies and delicate arches. High above the ground small turrets stuck out between the green branches, strings of lights entwined around them. Dean was sure he wouldn’t forget that sight for the rest of his life.

Jo talked to one of the princess’ advisors about the purpose of their visit, and they were led to a small chamber with a bunch of wooden chairs and a tiny table, where they were left to wait. Dean moved to the window, taking in the astonishing view of the forest. Cas joined him a few seconds later, resting against the windowsill only a few inches away. The air between them felt charged, and Dean made his best not to move, silently wishing Castiel had a notion of personal space.

“So, how does your world look like?” Jo asked, sitting on one of the chairs, her eyes burning brightly with curiosity. “I wanted to ask about that since we left the Roadhouse.”

“It’s really boring.” Dean grimaced. “Sorry to disappoint.”

“Oh, come on!” Jo huffed. “That’s not an answer!”

“I’m serious,” Dean said. “It’s boring in comparison to all of this.” He gestured around. It was true. He’d never even imagined something like Old Grove could exist. Everything in his world seemed plain and uninteresting when he compared it with a city carved in enormous trees.

“We have skyscrapers made of glass, and museums full of dragon bones,” Castiel weighed in. “It all depends on how you look at things.”

Dean guessed that by dragon bones Cas meant dinosaurs, which was enough for him to question all he knew about the history of Earth. A week ago he would say Cas was making this up, but if Castiel was real, then dragons were probably real too. A little terrifying, but hopefully they were truly extinct.

“See, that’s not boring at all!” Jo exclaimed. “Thank you, Castiel.”

“Unfortunately magic is kept in secret,” Castiel continued. “Which makes life harder for people like me.”

Jo frowned. “That must be weird. I can’t even imagine not knowing about magic.”

“I didn’t know anything about it until a week ago,” Dean admitted. It was hard to believe how much his worldview had changed during that week. He had to make room not only for magic, but also for supernatural creatures and different worlds. It was a lot to take, and honestly he was surprised how well he was holding up, given everything that was happening.

“Well, you’re doing great then!” Jo smiled. There was something warm in it and Dean felt he already liked her a lot. Despite the fact that she punched and threatened to shoot him, she seemed nice and definitely someone worth getting to know better. Which was good, because in a sense they were neighbors now.

The door opened and a young woman entered, her curly hair tied back, a blue dress rustling as she walked. There was something noble in her moves, the air around her almost visibly charged with magic, and Dean had no doubts that this was Princess Gilda.

“Dean, Castiel, welcome,” Gilda greeted them. “Old Grove hasn’t seen travelers like you for a very long time. Thank you for bringing them here, Joanna.” She nodded at Jo.

“The pleasure is ours, and all, but it would be good to finally get some real info about the portal. Because, you know, it’s a part of my house.” Dean had no idea how to act around royalty, and the princess intimidated him a little, but he decided to treat her just like he would everyone else. It was better than faking servility, and who cared if it was proper or not.

“Very well.” The princess didn’t seem to be put off by Dean’s frankness. “The portal was built to link our two worlds, and on both sides guardians were appointed to keep the path safe. They were the only ones that could open and close the door. For centuries it was a bustling trade route and we got many visitors from your side; many of our own people visited yours. Years ago, though, something changed, and the traffic slowly dwindled until the only person still visiting us was the guardian herself. Most of the Old Grove citizens forgot about the portal’s existence. Then, some day, the guardian stopped too, and the portal remained closed on your side.”

Dean furrowed his brow. “No offense, but why was something so important built in the cellar of a bar?” As Castiel said, in their world magic was kept in secret, so it made sense to keep the portal hidden in an inconspicuous building. Here, though, Dean would expect some kind of a temple, not a forgotten cellar.

“Oh, the bar was created much later, to harbor travelers from both worlds,” Gilda smiled. “We’re more pragmatic than you think.”

“So if I opened the portal, it means that I’m the new guardian?” Dean asked. He couldn't say he was happy about the whole thing. It looked like a big responsibility, and he didn’t need another one in his life. He would never say a bad word about it, but it seemed like the years he took care of Sam were his whole damn lifetime. Now, he just wanted to be left in peace and not constantly worry about fucking something up.

“Yes, it does,” the princess confirmed. “I hope we will be able to rebuild the old ties with your world thanks to you.”

Dean groaned, hiding his head in his hands. “I didn’t sign up for any of this.” It probably wasn’t a very mature reaction, but he felt entitled to it. Being the guardian of a portal between two worlds wasn’t a small thing to accept.

Cas put a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll do our best,” he reassured. Dean wasn’t sure if it was directed to the princess or to him, but somehow having Castiel there made it a little better. It reminded Dean that he wasn’t alone in this, and that Cas would be there with him along the road. Maybe the portal wouldn’t be a bad thing if he shared guarding it with someone else.

“It would be a great loss to us, but you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. I’m not here to force you to do anything against your will,” Gilda said gently. “You can close the portal, and never come back, and we will wait until another guardian shows up. The decision is up to you. The same goes to you and your mother, Joanna.” She turned to Jo. “As the rightful guardians on our side, you can refuse to keep the portal open.”

“Are you kidding? After all Mom’s stories,I always hoped it would open again someday.” Jo almost bounced in her seat.

“I’m glad to hear that.” The princess smiled. “As to you two.” She turned back to Dean and Cas. “You don’t have to make that decision now. It can wait until you’re ready. And in the meantime please, enjoy your stay and see the city. Maybe you will see how all of us can benefit from that partnership.”

“Uh, sure. Thank you,” Dean mumbled, trying to smile back. He still didn’t know how to feel about the whole thing, but he appreciated that they were given a choice. Part of him wanted to say no to everything right away, but maybe Gilda was right. Maybe the portal could be a good thing if he gave it a chance. No matter what he decided, he needed more time to think about it first.

“Now, I have some things I need to tend to, so unfortunately I have to leave, but I’m sure Joanna will be happy to show you around,” Gilda said. “I hope you will have a good time in Old Grove,” she added on her way to the door.

“Okay, it seems I’m your official guide now,” Jo said after the princess left. “I have a few hours before the Roadhouse opens, but then I’ll have to go back there and help Mom. You’re welcome to hang out there with us though.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Dean nodded. Even if he wasn’t sure about keeping the portal open, he discovered that he honestly wanted to see Old Grove with all its wonders. It was an adventure he couldn’t pass up. Maybe it meant he was already crazy, but it was too late to go back now and pretend all of this didn’t exist. Besides, how many people had an opportunity to visit another world? There was nothing wrong with making the best of their trip, when there was a whole new universe waiting to be discovered. He couldn’t deny he’d become a part of something very special, and he wasn’t going to miss out on it. And well, Cas seemed to like it there.

\---

After they left the palace, Jo took Dean and Cas to a local cafe, where the three of them sat outside at a one of the tables nestled between gnarled roots. Someone put a small radio in the open window, lively music coming out of the speakers. It was a little strange and not exactly the stuff Dean would listen to on his own, but still pleasant. From their table they had a view of a large clearing, in the middle of which stood a marble fountain with thick vines wrapping around the stone and water flowing down in cascades with a quiet rustle. A few people sat on the edges of the fountain, basking in the sun, while a group of young children played with bark boats.

It hit Dean that for those people, this was a normal day, nothing special. A thought hard to grasp from his point of view. He could barely imagine finding this place ordinary, boring even. Maybe he was going to get used to it someday, but for now everything still looked like it was taken straight out of a fantasy novel.

Jo ordered some kind of cake for them, and brushed Dean off when he tried to protest over her paying for everything. Dean let it go after a few unhappy grunts. It wasn’t like he had local currency anyway, and at least he could return the favor if she ever came to their world.

The cake was delicious, with fresh fruits and whipped cream. Even though it was cake, it was probably one of the best desserts Dean had ever had, though of course not as good as his homemade pie. Well, to be honest, nothing was as good as his pie, so that cake did pretty good. Dean was willing to come back to Old Grove just to have another slice.

Castiel managed to smear some whipped cream on his face, leaving a white trail across his cheek. He continued to eat, blissfully unaware, and Dean did his best not to laugh, taking out his phone to snap a photo. It was a truly memorable moment.

“What are you doing?” Castiel furrowed his brow.

“Taking a photo of you,” Dean said, pressing the button on the screen and capturing Cas’ frown forever.

“Why?” Cas asked, his eyes narrowed.

That was a good question. To tell the truth, Cas looked kinda cute with that frown, whipped cream on his face, and his blue hair sticking in every direction, but Dean wasn’t going to say that out loud. “I don’t know. I just felt like it.” He shrugged.

Jo sighed at him. “It’s because you have whipped cream on your cheek, and Dean is five years old. Can I see that?” she asked Dean, pointing at his phone, as Cas wiped his face. “We don’t have anything like this here.”

“It’s a phone.” Dean handed it to her. “So you have radios but not smartphones?” It was interesting to discover new differences between the worlds. After seeing the radio, he just assumed they had to be on a similar technological level, but apparently it wasn’t exactly the same.

“We have phones but they’re used just to call people, they don’t have any other functions. We also have cameras to take pictures,” Jo said, playing with the phone. “How does this work anyway? I thought magic was a secret in your world?”

“It’s not magic, it’s science,” Dean explained. “Are you saying your stuff is powered by magic?”

“Of course! Our science involves magic, I didn’t know there was a way it could work without it.” Jo handed him the phone back. “Your world is pretty fascinating,” she said with excitement. And maybe it really was, Dean thought, even if he never saw it that way before.

The next stop on their tour was the oldest tree in the city with a beautiful temple of the forest gods carved in its trunk. It was almost as big as the palace and probably twice as old, or at least that’s what Jo told them. On both sides of the door stood giant statues, their shapes half-human and half-animal, holding bowls in their hands with leafy vines hanging down from them.

Castiel stopped before the entrance, looking up thoughtfully, and Dean sneakily snapped another photo of him, even though Cas’ back was turned to the camera and half of his face was hidden by shadows. He wasn’t sure why he felt the need to capture that moment, but there was something special about Castiel’s expression, and he wanted to make it last.

The inside of the temple was cold and dark, only small candles lightening up the enormous space. There was a white altar in the center, adorned with flowers and draped up with green cloth. Dean could feel the power rushing through the whole place, swirling around them, flowing like a swift river.

He moved closer to Cas, like that could stop him from being carried away by the magic current. It seemed to help a little actually, Castiel’s gaze anchoring him in place. Dean took a deep breath and relaxed his body, and the feeling of the power flow disappeared like it was never there.

Cas and Jo didn’t seem to be affected the same way, making Dean wondered if he imagined all of it. Maybe his brain just couldn’t cope with all the new information any more and he started hallucinating? He could ask if they felt something, but maybe it was better not to know, and he decided to leave it.

They left the temple soon after that and Jo led them to the city market, a clearing full of stalls and booths selling all kinds of stuff - there was jewelry, and food, and books with spells, and spices, and anything else Dean could imagine. It was loud, full of people and very chaotic, the exact opposite of the temple. Which was good, because Dean was still a little creeped out by what had happened there.

They walked around for a bit, Dean’s collection of photos of Cas steadily growing. Now he also had Cas sniffing some weird purple fruit, Cas studying a small fawn figurine, Cas staring at a black cat with antlers, Cas browsing books, and Cas noticing him taking photos again. The last one unfortunately led to Dean shoving his phone back to his pocket, cheeks burning with embarrassment, and promising himself he would stop.

Before they knew it, Jo had to go back to the Roadhouse and Dean and Cas accompanied her, talking more about their world. Jo was fascinated with everything they said, especially the bits about space travel and rocketships. Sadly, neither Dean nor Cas knew much about it, and her curiosity couldn’t be satisfied. They promised to bring her books though, when they visited next time.

Dean and Castiel finished their journey on a balcony high above the Roadhouse, beers in their hands, watching the city below. The sun was already setting down, gilding the tree crowns around them. It was quiet there, the sounds from the bar and the streets not reaching that far. Dean felt weirdly at peace.

“So, how do you like it?” Castiel asked, resting against the railing next to Dean.

“It’s not bad.” Dean shrugged. “I think I can get used to the thought of having the portal in my basement.” It was surprising, but as the day passed, the idea of leaving the portal open seemed less and less crazy. He still wasn’t completely sure what he was going to do, but that was a start.

“Good,” Cas stated. “Because I want to go back here to see the library.”

“You like books a lot, don’t you?” Dean asked, looking Castiel in the eyes.

“Yes.” Castiel nodded. “I believe that stories are the greatest treasure of humanity. They have the ability to shape our reality and our beliefs, and we carry some of them our whole lives. There’s nothing as beautiful as the power of imagination,” he said earnestly. Dean couldn’t stop himself from smiling.

“Are you laughing at me?” Cas asked, raising one of his eyebrows.

“No!” Dean denied quickly. “I just didn’t expect you to be so passionate about it. It’s kind of cool actually,” he said, looking away. The streets looked so small from there, the city lighting up with thousands of lanterns. “I never thought I would see something like this. I’m, uh. I’m glad you’re here with me,” he mumbled, suddenly feeling hot.

“Me too, Dean,” Castiel smiled, bumping him with his shoulder. The setting sun painted his face with gold hues and Dean really wanted to take another photo. He resisted the urge and smiled back.

Oh god, he was so gone for Castiel already.


	3. Toads

Mary Winchester stood in the middle of the kitchen, her wide smile brightening the whole room, a freshly made pie in her hands. She was so close that Dean could smell the apple filling, a sweet, delicate scent that made his mouth water. He took a step closer and the ground started shaking, a bottomless chasm appearing in front of him. It grew wider and wider, until it swallowed Mary, and the pie, and the rest of the kitchen. He cried out in desperation, stretching his hands to catch his mother as she fell but it was too late. He lost her again and a wave of grief spread through his chest, leaving him breathless. It didn’t matter how many times it’d happened already; it always hurt so damn much, and he was fucking helpless, completely unable to do anything about it. He started falling too, but he didn’t care anymore. Maybe he deserved it for not being able to save Mary.

He landed in a bed, huge pillows softening the fall. This was something new. He sat up, looking around with curiosity. The room wasn’t big, but it was clean and peaceful, and Dean felt like he was home. A nice change. Someone stirred behind his back with a quiet grunt and a hand touched his naked back, rubbing it gently. Soon the hand was replaced with mouth, kissing Dean down the spine, scruff scratching him lightly. He gasped with pleasure, turning around and catching Castiel’s mouth. Cas hummed with satisfaction, placing his hands on Dean’s jaw and deepening the kiss. It felt so right that Dean couldn’t understand why they hadn’t done that before. Cas’ hands moved down his neck and stopped at the nape, dragging him closer. “Dean, what is the square root of pi?” he whispered against Dean’s lips, his voice raspy.

Dean woke up with a start. The room was dark; he could see the stars through the window. He brushed a hand across his face, sighing loudly. It was hard to say which dream made him more disturbed. The one with his mom was nothing new, and it always left him in a shitty mood. The new one was a lot more pleasant, but at the same time it was going to make being around Castiel very awkward, especially because Dean was almost sure Cas didn’t feel the same way. He probably should stop feeding the dreameater cheese, so that it would make the dreams go away, but there was a part of him that wanted to see the dream Castiel again. Just his luck to develop an one-sided crush on an imaginary friend he lived with. His life sucked.

\---

“Come on, we’re making pie today,” Dean announced as soon as he entered the kitchen in the morning. Cas was already there, sitting at the table with a book and a cup of coffee. He usually was still in bed when Dean ate his breakfast, but today Dean was late, having trouble falling back asleep and sleeping in as a result. He hadn’t made any specific plans for the day so it wasn’t a big deal, but it still made him feel wrong somehow, like he’d let himself down.

Cas looked at him with his eyes narrowed. “Is there some sort of a special occasion?” he asked.

“Nah, I just feel like this is a pie for breakfast day.” Dean shrugged. He needed to do something with his hands, and even though he decided to pretend that the dreams hadn’t happened, they left him with a carving for pie he couldn’t shake off. Of course, he wasn’t going to tell Cas any of that.

“I’m not good with cooking,” Castiel admitted, and Dean could swear he looked lost for a second or two. It passed quickly though, Cas’ expression becoming determined. “But I can try.”

“Well, it’s never too late to learn,” Dean said, smiling. “I can teach you everything.”

He rummaged through the fridge, putting butter on the table. “You can start by washing and slicing the apples,” he instructed. Cas nodded and left the book on the chair, moving to the sink.

“I was thinking about a name,” he said, turning the water on and taking the first apple.

“A name?”, Dean asked, finishing cutting up the butter and putting it in the freezer. It would be best if he could leave the pie crust there overnight, but with the sudden need for pie he had to make some compromises.

“For the dreameater,” Castiel explained. “We should name him Breadloaf.”

Dean frowned. “That’s a stupid name, Cas. And I’m still not sure I want to have that thing around.” It’d been five days since they’d discovered the dreameater under Dean’s bed and made a trip to Old Grove, and Dean wasn’t any closer to deciding what he wanted to do. The sane part of him wanted to forget about everything, but he couldn’t deny that leaving the portal open would give him very interesting opportunities. For now he was giving himself time to think, and maybe in a few days decision would become easier.

“Breadloaf it is.” Cas nodded to himself, peeling an apple.

Dean sighed with resignation. “I don’t have a say about this, do I?” He wasn’t going to get rid of the dreameater if it became Castiel’s favorite pet. To be honest, the creature had started growing on him too, so maybe it was better that way. But Breadloaf was a stupid name.

“No, you don’t,” Castiel confirmed. His face was solemn but his eyes were smiling, a happy glint revealing his true emotions. An unexpected wave of affection washed over Dean, making it hard to look away. It would be so easy to close the space between them and kiss that stupid expression off his face, until they both were completely out of breath, gasping for air.

The doorbell rang sharply, snapping him out of his daydream. Fuck. He was so utterly fucked. “I’m gonna answer that,” he mumbled, escaping the kitchen as fast as possible.

When Dean opened the door he was faced with a slightly nervous redhead, looking with curiosity past him. She was wearing a green tee with two crossed axes, _Lumberjanes_ written beneath it in colorful letters.

“Can I help you?” he asked gruffly. She clearly wasn’t from around here and he really hoped she wasn’t there to talk about Jesus. Or the end of the world for that matter. She didn’t look like she was, but you never know with people these days.

“Uh, I hope so?” she said, a note of uncertainty in her voice. “Hi, I’m Charlie, and I’m a witch.” A witch. Great. At this point Dean should’ve expected something like that. It didn’t explain what she was doing on his doorstep though, so he just raised his eyebrows, prompting her to continue.

“You didn’t slam the door in my face, okay,” she said more to herself than to Dean. “I count it as a good sign. Is it a good sign?”

There was a sudden pop next to Dean’s ear and a big, brown toad landed on his shoulder, croaking loudly.

He brushed it off with a surprise. “What the--”

“Sorry!” Charlie apologized. “Uh. That always happens when I get nervous.” Another toad popped between them and hit the floor with a splash. “Sorry again! They’re harmless, really,” she said, picking the toads up.

Dean sighed. It wasn’t weirder than imaginary friends and other worlds, he could deal with that. “Okay, I’m Dean. What do you want?” he asked, ignoring the third toad appearing somewhere around his knees.

“As you can see I have a little problem with um, toads,” Charlie said, the first two toads vanishing from her hands. Another one appeared right above her head, landing in her hair seconds later. “I was hoping you could help me, maybe?”

Dean huffed. “Do I look like a wizard to you?” He did feel bad for Charlie, but he didn’t see anything he could do.

“Well, I don’t know. I cast a spell that was supposed to point me to the place where I could find help and it pointed me here,” Charlie explained. “Oh god, I hope I didn’t mess it up.”

Dean rubbed his forehead. He couldn’t just close the door in her face and leave her with nothing. “Cas! Do you know how to get rid of magic toads?” he shouted in the direction of the kitchen.

“No, sorry,” Cas replied, joining them a few moments later. “But I’m sure someone in Old Grove knows.” Old Grove. Of course. Dean should’ve thought of that, given how much time he spent thinking about the damn portal.

Charlie furrowed her brow. “What is Old Grove?”

Dean shook his head with a sigh and moved back to let Charlie in. “Come in. Just try to keep those toads off the furniture.” Apparently they were going to make another trip to Old Grove, no matter what his decision about the portal was.

“Thanks.” Charlie sent him a bright smile, entering the house. “So what’s the deal with that Old Grove? I didn’t see any groves around.”

“Old Grove is a city in another world,” Castiel explained.

Charlie made a confused face. “That seems a little… far. I was hoping to find something more local.”

“It’s not far when you have a portal leading there in the basement,” Dean said. Charlie was a witch with toads popping up out of thin air around her; portals to other worlds probably weren’t going to be anything new.

“Oh. Wow,” she said, dumbfounded. Maybe it was a little more for her that Dean had thought. “Good to know.”

Dean’s stomach growled, reminding him about the pie. A trip to Old Grove without breakfast wasn’t something he wanted to do, but baking would have to wait. “Just let me grab something to eat and we’ll take you there,” he said, pointing Charlie to the kitchen, and resigning himself to a sandwich.

\---

The basement looked much nicer than it had a few days ago, because Dean had made cleaning it his priority. He and Cas had gotten rid of all the cobwebs and dust, changed the lightbulbs, and mopped the floors until the whole place was clean and as welcoming as any old basement could be. The room with the portal still had an otherworldly vibe, but it wasn’t like they could make runes on the walls and a big stone arch look more homey.

“I hope you guys didn’t lure me in here to get rid of me and dump my cold body somewhere where no one’s ever gonna find it,” Charlie said, glancing suspiciously at the symbols covering the walls.

“You came to us, remember?” Dean reminded her.

“We wouldn’t kill anyone without any prior planning,” Cas added. Dean was almost sure he was joking, but Charlie’s face went far paler. They probably didn’t make a good first impression.

Dean touched the stone, activating the portal, and observed with satisfaction as Charlie’s eyes grew wider when it opened. She moved closer to the archway and touched the surface, her fingers vanishing in it. Small ripples crossed the space under the arch, crashing against the stone.

“Am I supposed to just step into it?” she asked.

“Yeah.” Dean nodded. “You will land in a cellar of a bar, nothing too scary. Unless the owner decides to shoot you,” he added, remembering their first encounter with Ellen and Jo.

“That’s not very comforting, thanks.” Charlie grimaced.

“We’ll be right behind you, there’s nothing to worry about.” Dean tried to sound reassuring, feeling kind of bad for scaring her. He wasn’t sure if it worked, but Charlie nodded with new determination and made a step forward, vanishing from the room.

“Down the rabbit hole,” Dean murmured under his breath and followed after her, Cas right behind him.

It was still quite early and the Roadhouse was empty and quiet, Jo and Ellen nowhere to be seen. Dust motes danced in the light coming through the windows, the whole place smelling like wood and old smoke.

“Jo? Ellen? Anyone?” Dean shouted, looking around.

There was a sound of light steps on the stairs and soon Jo appeared in the room, her hair tied in a loose bun. “Finally,” she said when she saw them. “You still owe me a trip to your world, you know. Don’t even think about going back on this.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Dean rubbed his neck. When they’d left Old Grove a few days ago, it was already late and Dean had closed the portal behind them without giving it much thought. It felt safer that way, like he had at least some control of the situation. “You can visit us whenever you want. I’ll leave the portal open for you,” he said after a pause. To tell the truth he was looking forward to spending more time with Jo, and it made the decision a lot easier.

“Good.” Jo smiled. “I see you brought someone new.” She gave Charlie a long glance. “Nice shirt.”

“Uhm. Thanks. I’m Charlie,” Charlie mumbled.

“Jo. What brings you here, Charlie?” Jo asked.

“I’m looking for someone who could help me with a small magic problem,” Charlie explained. As on cue two toads appeared in front of her and fell to the floor with disturbed croaks. “As you can see there are toads.”

Jo looked at the toads with her brow furrowed. “Hmm, I think I know just the person you need. Missouri is great with magic and should be able to help you. I can take you to her, if you want,” she offered.

Charlie’s face lit up. “That would be great!”

“Those two already saw the city.” Jo pointed Dean and Cas with her head. “But what would you say to a tour later, just the two of us?”

Charlie grinned. “I’d love that.”

Dean felt that he and Cas were quickly becoming a third wheel in the conversation. “We probably should get going, you know, that way you two will have more time after we’re done,” he said, interrupting Jo and Charlie before the situation became too awkward.

“Yeah, sure,” Jo replied distractedly. “I’ll lead the way.”

\---

Missouri lived on the outskirts of the city in a big stump covered with green patches of moss and vines, a few flower boxes hanging from the windows. Dean could feel magic moving, swirling all around the stump, just like it did in the temple. Feeling its current move past him wasn’t as overwhelming as it was the first time around, but it still made him somewhat uneasy, and he was happy when it passed after a few deep breaths.

Jo knocked on the door, and moved back, giving Charlie a reassuring smile. They didn’t have to wait for long; the door opened almost immediately, a dark skinned woman with short hair appearing in them.

“Ah. I’ve been expecting you,” she said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Please, come in.”

“How did you know we were coming?” Charlie asked, frowning, as they walked inside. Missouri led them to a cozy room with a few armchairs and a wooden coffee table covered with an embroidered cloth. A bunch of herbs hung from the ceiling, giving off a rich smell, mixed with a faint hint of incense and flowers.

“There are certain things I can see in the future, child,” Missouri explained, sitting down. “You have a problem with your magic, is that right?”

“Yes.” Charlie nodded, taking a seat on the opposite side of the table. Jo and Cas followed her example, taking two last seats, and leaving Dean to seat awkwardly on the arm of Cas’ armchair. “I keep conjuring toads when I get nervous and I don’t know how to stop it. It absolutely sucks,” Charlie continued.

“You are in the right place, Charlie. I can teach you what I know and help you find the balance within your magic,” Missouri said, observing Charlie’s face carefully. Dean thought that there was probably no point in asking how she knew Charlie’s name.

“You could teach me? Oh my god, that would be great!” Charlie’s eyes shone with excitement. “Until now I only had books my grandma left me, and they were completely unhelpful with this. If I wanted to grow warts there was like ten different spells and elixirs, but toads appearing out of nowhere? Nothing.”

“It will take time, though,” Missouri said. “You would have to come here every day for at least a few weeks.”

“Uh. Shit. I don’t really have a place to stay around here.” Charlie’s shoulders slumped.

“There’s a lot of empty rooms at my house, you could stay there, if you want to,” Dean offered. Charlie seemed okay and he could already feel he was rooting for her. He doubted it would a problem to live with her for a few weeks.

“Seriously? You would do that for me?” Charlie beamed. “I mean, yeah, sure. As long as you don’t make plans to murder me.” She looked pointedly at Castiel.

“I can’t promise anything,” Cas deadpanned, like he was actually considering it.

“I’m glad that’s settled.” Missouri clasped her hands, ignoring Castiel’s comment. “I expect to see you here tomorrow, first thing in the morning,” she said to Charlie, and then turned to Dean. “Now about you, Dean.”

“What about me?” Dean raised his eyebrows, twisting uncomfortably in his seat under her gaze. “I don’t have any animals popping up around me out of nowhere.”

“Don’t sass me, boy,” Missouri scolded him. “You are exceptionally sensitive to the flow of magic. It’s a rare talent, not shared by many. Right now it’s just a dim speckle, but I could teach you how to focus it so that you could feel the smallest changes in the current without any effort.”

“What?” Dean said, surprised, not sure what he should do with that information. Missouri’s eyes were boring holes into him, and the room suddenly felt too small, like someone had sucked all the air out of it. “I don’t know. Uh. I don’t know if I want that,” he said. “I have to think. Outside.” He stood up, not waiting for a response, and escaped from Missouri’s house like her words were chasing him.

\---

Dean wandered off in some non-specific direction, replaying in his head the few sentences Missouri had said about him. He was sensitive to magic. That actually explained a few things, but it didn’t mean he had to be happy about it. During the last two weeks there was more and more magic in his life and now it was also a part of him? He could be okay with imaginary friends, magic portals, dreameaters and witches, but this, _this_ was too much to take.

The forest around him grew denser, shrubs and vines replacing cobblestone roads between the roots. The muddy path before him was dark, with no lanterns to light the way. That didn’t stop him from moving forward.

He felt violated, like some unknown force had invaded his body against his will, changing him, making him into something new. Logically he knew that that probably wasn’t the case, that it was just a part of him he hadn’t known before, but it didn’t stop his thoughts. Why had Missouri told him? Had it crossed her mind that maybe he didn’t want to know about that? He’d been perfectly happy without it; it had been one less thing to worry about.

The path he followed suddenly ended, leaving him in the middle of the woods without any further direction. A good metaphor of his life. He kicked a root and swore when a jolt of pain pierced his leg. Fucking awesome.

He sat down, rubbing his eyes. He wanted to be angry about the whole situation, but maybe it wouldn’t be that bad? Missouri said she could teach him, but she didn’t say she _had to_ teach him. Maybe he could just not accept her offer and leave it be. It wasn’t a problem until now. Maybe nothing had to change.

A low growling came from somewhere behind his back. Dean turned around with a sinking feeling. A giant saber-toothed cat stared at him intensely, showing all its teeth. He swore in his head, his heart speeding up. He was a fucking moron for not thinking there could be predators in the forest around Old Grove. This world could be magical and all, but it didn’t mean fairies and good witches were all that was out there.

The animal creeped up closer step after step, muscles working under its skin. Dean swallowed hard, blood pumping in his ears, and started to back away slowly, not looking away from the cat. After a few steps his back collided with a tree trunk. Just his luck. He had to think of something pretty fast or he would be dead in a few seconds.

“Fucking shit, help!” he cried out, his foot slipping away under a root, his heart almost jumping out of his chest. There was a very low chance that anyone would hear it, but at this point he had nothing to lose. He moved as fast as he could among the tangled wood, hoping the animal wouldn’t be able to follow.

The beast jumped after him though, swiftly following his steps. Dean did his best to speed up, but his attempt only ended with his leg getting stuck between the roots. He jerked desperately, trying to yank it out, but there was just not enough time. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. There was nothing he could do.

A black panther jumped over him, hissing at the saber-toothed cat, which immediately stopped in its tracks with surprise, growling hesitantly. The panther responded with more hisses. After a few more growls, the saber-toothed cat gave up, walking away. It seemed that it decided Dean wasn’t worth the fight. Dean would have sighed with relief if not for the other cat still present, currently circling him around. The prospect of becoming lunch wasn’t good, no matter what was going to turn him into a meal.

The panther looked at him with its head tilted, sniffing his chest. Dean didn’t dare to move, holding his breath and looking the animal in the eyes. If he thought about it, the panther looked kind of familiar, but he couldn’t place his finger on why. He definitely didn’t know any black panthers. The most logical explanation was that his scared shitless mind was grasping at straws, looking for a sign that he could still come out of the situation alive. He didn’t know how, exactly, knowing the panther would help, but better friend than stranger.

The mystery solved itself a few moments later when the cat vanished in a puff of smoke, Castiel appearing in its place. “I was looking for you,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone, like he hadn’t just saved Dean’s life. And sniffed his chest. Dean tried not to dwell on the latter.

“Shit. Thanks, Cas,” he huffed, sagging down, dizzy with relief. He was so unbelievably grateful to see Castiel that he almost threw his arms around him and kissed him right there. Fortunately, his leg was still stuck and he couldn’t move. He didn’t need another disaster right now.

“Charlie went with Jo to see the city, I’d suggest we should head back there too,” Cas said. “Unless you want to get to know the local wildlife better.”

Dean finally managed to get his leg out from between the roots. Great timing. “Nah, I think I’m good for today,” he said, trying to sound casual, not like he’d almost shat his pants out of fear a few minutes ago.

\---

After Dean and Cas got back to the city, they decided to take a walk, talking from time to time. It allowed Dean to gradually relax, adrenaline slowly leaving his system, the encounter with the saber-toothed cat fading to only a memory now.

They went to the city market again, browsing through the stalls, and trying on clothes and accessories from time to time.

“You should check this out,” Dean said, holding up a pair of large gold medallion earrings. It was more a joke than anything else, but part of him wanted to see Castiel in them for real.

Cas focused for a few seconds and exact replicas of the earrings appeared hanging from his ears. Dean had to admit it was kind of hot.

Castiel scrunched his nose. “I don’t think they suit me,” he said and the earrings disappeared.

“If you say so,” Dean said, picking up a pendant in a shape of a horned head. It was nice, and he would probably buy it if he had any local money. Maybe some day, he thought, putting it back on the stall.

After that, Castiel dragged Dean to the library and another, smaller, temple. He gave him a careful look when they entered, looking for something in his face. “Do you feel anything?” he asked.

Dean nodded. This time he was ready for the feeling of magic flowing around him. “Huh. It’s not as unpleasant as before,” he said with a surprise. “At least as long as I’m trying to focus on it.” Maybe being able to feel it wasn’t such a bad thing after all. He still wasn’t going to go back to Missouri, though.

It was getting dark when they returned to the Roadhouse, strings of lanterns illuminating the streets. The place was almost full, loud voices filling the stuffy air. Jo stood behind the bar, whispering something to Charlie’s ear. Charlie laughed, her head tilted back. They knew each other just for one day and Dean already felt a little jealous seeing them together like that. It wasn’t like he didn’t get to spend time with Cas, but at the same time he wished he could be so open about how he felt, not fearing the inevitable rejection. Besides, could imaginary friends even feel that way about people?

They approached the bar, Dean catching snippets of conversations from the tables they passed, and sat on the stools next to Charlie. She didn’t even notice them, absently ogling Jo.

“What can I get for you, boys?” Ellen asked, wiping a glass. “It’s on the house.”

“Beer’s fine. Thanks, Ellen.” Dean nodded at her.

“A few people came here and asked about the portal,” she said, filling their glasses from the tap.

Castiel furrowed his brow. “How did they even know?”

Ellen shrugged. “Rumors always find a way.” She pushed the glasses their way. “They all want to travel to your world.”

Dean rubbed his forehead with a groan. He still didn’t feel ready to decide, but there was no point in postponing it even more. He glanced at Charlie and Jo. They looked happy together and he couldn’t take that away from them. He wasn’t going to close the portal, that’s for sure. And if he wanted to keep it open for those two, he might as well leave it open for everyone. “Okay. Fine. Let them come,” he grumbled.

Jo turned their way. “Are you allowing people to travel?” she asked with curiosity.

“Yeah, I think I am,” Dean sighed. “I just hope I won’t regret this later.”

“Huh. I guess we can expect a lot of guests staying at the Roadhouse then,” Jo said.

“I don’t know if have enough rooms for that,” Ellen huffed, resting against the bar. “Especially if some of them want to stay longer.”

“We’ll think of something.” Jo didn’t seem to be too worried.

“Hey Dean, you said you had a lot of empty rooms, right?” Charlie joined the conversation.

“Yeah?” Dean wasn’t sure where she was going with it.

“So what if you allowed people traveling between the worlds to stay there?” Charlie suggested. “Like, sort of a bed and breakfast. I could help with arranging everything when I’m not at Missouri’s place.”

Dean opened and closed his mouth. The suggestion caught him by surprise, leaving him without a good answer. He still needed to find a job, and sure, maybe a bed and breakfast could be it, but it also seemed like a very big jump. He wasn’t sure it was worth the risk. “I don’t know. This seems like a big decision.” He glanced at Castiel, like it could help him somehow. “What do you think, Cas?” he asked. After all, they shared the house, and even if Dean was the rightful owner Cas had to have a say in this.

Cas narrowed his eyes, thinking. “It could be interesting. But the choice is yours,” he said.

Dean sighed. That wasn’t very helpful. “I’ll think about it.” One big decision a day was enough, and he had already decided to leave the portal open. Letting people stay at his house was an issue for another day.

\---

It was late when they came back to the house, Charlie going to sleep as soon as she brought her bag up from the car and Dean pointed her to a room. She had to get up early the next day to head to Missouri’s, so it was probably a good decision. Dean, on the other hand, still had a lot running through his mind and decided to stay up longer, stubbornly insisting he had to finish the pie before turning in for the night. Castiel agreed to help with a roll of his eyes, following Dean to the kitchen.

It didn’t take long to discover that Cas was an utter disaster in the kitchen, and Dean had to save the pie more than once from complete destruction. He decided that in the future, Cas should stay as far away from baking as possible, for his own good. Castiel didn’t object.

When the pie was done, Dean found Cas on the steps of the back porch, looking at the stars. Breadloaf was curled on his knees. He petted it absently, his eyes fixed on the night sky, face half-lit by the light from inside. It made his features sharper, more pronounced, and Dean couldn't look away.

“I brought you pie,” he said, putting a plate on the floor.

“Thanks,” Cas said, looking at him with a half-smile.

Dean sat right next to him, resting his elbows on the step above. The night was warm and windless, the smell of summer in the air. There were no clouds in the sky, the stars and the moon clearly visible. It was almost completely quiet, except for the crickets chirping somewhere in the distance.

“I don’t know what to do, Cas,” Dean said after a few minutes of silence. “Everything that happened today… it makes me feel lost.” Between the revelation about being sensitive to magic, leaving the portal open, and possible bed and breakfast plans, he had no idea how to even approach every new issue.

“My mom died soon after my brother was born,” he continued, not sure what made him want to share. “I was only four, and Dad was a fucking trainwreck.” The truth was John had been drunk and angry most of the time, and that meant Dean had been used as a punching bag more often than not. But Cas didn’t have to know that.

“I don’t know how me and Sam survived the next ten years, but somehow we did. I took care of my brother, tried to be the parent he didn’t have. It was fucked up.” When he’d finally decided to run away and take Sam with him, he’d never looked back. From what he knew John had drank himself to death a few years later.

“Then Bobby took us in, and our life became a lot better.” Bobby had been a friend of the family before Mary’s death, a man with a big heart and a lot of good will. When Dean came to him begging for help, he offered him and Sam a place to stay, probably saving their lives. “But even then I always put Sam first, made sure he had all he needed. And now I don’t have to do that anymore. Sam is an adult and he can take care of himself. The thing is, I don’t know how to do anything else,” Dean confessed. “Without Sam, I don’t know what I want to do with my life.”

“You’re a very good man, Dean.” Castiel looked at him carefully, his eyes sincere. “And there’s nothing wrong with not knowing what to do,” he said earnestly. “You’re strong and resourceful, you will figure it out sooner or later.”

Dean huffed. “Maybe.” He wasn’t sure if Cas was right, but sharing his thoughts made him feel a little lighter, like some of the weight was lifted off his shoulders simply because there was someone to listen to him. He wasn’t big on talking about this stuff, usually avoiding it as much as he could, but maybe it could really help sometimes.

The silence fell again, crickets getting seemingly louder. Cas ate his pie, giving some of it to Breadloaf, who seemed very excited about it and grunted happily. It was the good kind of silence, the kind that never feels awkward. The kind, Dean thought, where you were content just sitting next to the other person. Dean got lost in thought, once again going over the list of the things he still had to do in the house. If he was going to consider opening a bed and breakfast,everything had to be in perfect condition. There was no room for patches of mold and falling-out sockets.

Cas broke the silence. “I was thinking about starting a garden.”

“Really?” Dean raised his eyebrows. It was unexpected. “I mean that’s great, but you’ve been here for so long, why now?”

“I don’t know.” Cas shrugged, and then took a deep breath. “I was conjured years ago by a young girl named Claire Novak. She was an only child with a powerful imagination; a perfect combination to create an imaginary friend.” Apparently not only Dean was in a sharing mood.

“What happened to her?” Dean asked.

Castiel grimaced. “She grew up and didn’t need me anymore. Probably even forgot that I was real.” He made a pause, looking away. “I still miss her sometimes.”

“I’m sorry,” Dean said quietly. He couldn’t imagine how that must’ve felt, being left completely alone, when the only person that mattered gradually forgot about you. Castiel had to be so unimaginably lonely for all those years; Dean didn’t know how he’d survived.

Cas let out a long breath. “After that, everything felt off, like I was living only a half-life, not really _there_. It was just easier to let the days pass by, without engaging in anything too serious.”

Dean swallowed. “What changed?” he asked.

Cas looked him in the eyes, a hard to read expression on his face. “You moved here.”

The air between them suddenly felt charged, and Castiel slowly moved closer, his face only inches from Dean’s. Dean was almost sure what was going to happen next and his heart sped up, his stomach flipping. He leaned towards Cas, almost closing the space between them.

An unexpected croak pierced the air, making them jump and move away. A big gray toad leaped clumsily on the stairs, oblivious to what it interrupted. Dean never wanted to burn something with his eyes as much as he wanted to annihilate that toad. The moment had passed and neither he nor Cas seemed to have the courage to make the next move. Fucking great. Just what he needed right now on top of everything else.


	4. Beginnings

“So do you have a name yet?” Jo asked, playing with Charlie’s hand. The two of them sat at the kitchen table, watching Dean cook. They’d just gotten back from their trip to the city, and Dean invited Jo to stay for dinner. He and Cas hadn’t have a chance to pay her back for the tour around Old Grove, and feeding Jo his lasagna was the next best thing he could do. Not to mention he simply liked having her over; both she and Charlie were a pure joy to have around.

“What?” Dean asked distractedly, raising his head from the peppers he was chopping.

“A name. For the bed and breakfast thing. Charlie said you were looking into it,” Jo cleared up.

“I… uh,” Dean said, rubbing his neck. “I don’t know yet.” He and Charlie had spent an evening looking up what they had to do to open a B&B, but that was it. He still couldn’t bring himself to think of it as a thing he was actually going to do in the near future. It seemed like an enormous mountain to climb, and he didn’t even know where to start. Maybe letting people cross was enough, and he shouldn’t bite more than he could chew.

Cas chose that moment to enter the kitchen, Breadloaf in tow, distracting Dean again. Cas’ plaid shirt was covered in dirt and grass stains, his hair plastered with sweat to the forehead. He took the idea of gardening very seriously, and he was currently digging through a small plot behind the house to prepare the ground. Somewhere in the course of the last week he also grew a short beard and Dean couldn’t stop himself from thinking that the sexy lumberjack look was good on him. That thought skirted a dangerous territory though, and he did his best not to go any further this time, no matter how hot it was.

“No dirt in the house, Cas,” he grumbled. “I cleaned here yesterday.”

They hadn’t talked about the almost kiss, though there was a part of Dean that wished they had. The other part wasn’t sure if it would be a good idea. He’d never been good at relationships, and he would probably fuck it up one way or another. So maybe it was better to forget about it, pretend it’d never happened. That way he would spare everyone the inevitable heartbreak.

“Sorry,” Cas said, looking at his shirt. Seconds later he was clean again, almost like he’d just come out of the shower. Except for the clothes, unfortunately. That was a dangerous thought, though, so Dean chose to focus on the many perks of being an imaginary friend instead. Speaking of which, he still didn’t want to think what would’ve happened if Cas hadn’t been there when the saber-toothed cat had attacked him. He wouldn’t be alive anymore, that’s for sure.

Thinking of Cas in the form of a black panther gave Dean an idea. “What about _Black Cat Bed and Breakfast_?” he asked, moving peppers to the frying pan, already filled with meat and onions.

“It seems like the right name for a magical place like this,” Charlie agreed.

“What do you think, Cas?” Dean gave Castiel a quick glance. The name was clearly inspired by him, and Dean wasn’t sure he would be okay with it. Maybe it was too much to ask?

Cas’ face did something weird, almost like he was touched, but the expression disappeared so quickly Dean wasn’t sure he really saw it. “I agree.” He nodded, joining Charlie and Jo at the table. “Black cats are commonly associated with magic, that name fits the house well.”

“Good. That means we can cross out one thing from the list,” Dean decided, mixing milk with cream cheese. Maybe he should give more thought to the name, but _Black Cat_ sounded good and he liked it; there was no point in overthinking the choice.

Cas scratched his beard. “I wish we knew more about the previous guardian,” he said. “I’ve tried looking for information, but the only thing I’ve found so far is that she died in a car crash years ago.” Castiel had gotten pretty interested in Josie Sands over the last few weeks, making a few trips to the local library to go through old papers, and apparently it had paid off to some extent. Dean was curious about the past guardian too, but he decided to leave the whole thing for Cas. He seemed to enjoy turning into a detective a lot more than Dean would.

Jo frowned. “Yeah, unfortunately my mom doesn’t know much about her, she was too young when the guardian visited.”

“Why don’t we ask her personally then?” Charlie looked between them.

Dean snorted, adding mozzarella to the mixture. “She’s long dead, Charlie, that kind of speaks for itself,” he said. Talking to Josie Sands would be interesting, but they were a few decades late.

Charlie smiled, her arms folded. “Not when you have a witch around. We can make a séance and talk to her spirit,” she claimed with confidence.

“You think that would work?” Castiel furrowed his brow.

“Of course! I mean, I’ve never done that before but it sounds easy enough. Sort of,” Charlie said. “I will need to gather some ingredients first, but we can definitely try.”

“Okay, fine,” Dean agreed. “But if something goes wrong and one of us gets possessed, I’m gonna kick your ass.” If someone had suggested a séance a few weeks ago he would have thought it was a joke, but now he had no reason not to believe it would work. And maybe he should be scared by the prospect of summoning a ghost, but honestly? He just wanted to finish making his lasagna and eat it in peace.

\---

It was another rainy evening when they gathered in the dimly lit attic, the pitter-patter of the rain particularly loud so close to the roof. Charlie drew a chalk circle on the wooden floor, and put four white candles in it, pointing east, west, north and south. In the center stood a single black candle and a bowl filled with chopped dandelion roots, morning glory and sage. The last element was a glass of white wine added to the circle as an offering for the spirit.

“Are we all positive about doing this?” Dean asked, switching the lights off, and sitting next to Charlie, his eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness. He was surprisingly okay with the perspective of talking to a dead person, but he wanted to make sure they all were on the same page.

“Yeah,” Jo said, taking the place opposite of him. Cas nodded, sitting down between them. Charlie only hummed, fishing a small toad out of the bowl and putting it away, her face determined. Even if she was nervous, she clearly was stubborn enough to go through with it.

Charlie lit the candles, one by one, and signaled to the three of them to take each other’s hands. Dean put his hand in Castiel’s, hyperaware of the touch. His stomach jolted happily, like this was the best thing in the whole world. He kicked himself mentally. Goddammit, he wasn’t a fucking teenager anymore, stuff like that shouldn’t happen to people his age. Everything had gotten worse after the night they’d almost kissed, and Dean was pretty sure his body was doing its best to ignore his decision not to act on his feelings. Fuck, he didn’t need that. He just hoped it would stop before Castiel noticed anything.

As soon as they were ready, Charlie threw a match into the bowl, and completed the circle, her hand warm in Dean’s. She cleared her throat, and started chanting. “Dust to dust, bones to bones,” she said melodiously. “Josie Sands I call upon your spirit, come to me through the light, in peace or not at all.”

At first nothing happened and Dean was ready to admit it was a bust. Then, suddenly, the flames shot up to the roof for a few seconds, singeing the beams. The room became very cold, and a blurry shape of a young woman wearing a short gray dress appeared in front of them. The same woman Dean remembered from the photos. He would’ve been lying if he said it wasn’t almost as scary as his encounter with saber-toothed cat. Though at least this time nothing was going to try to kill him. Hopefully.

“Who summons me?” Josie Sands asked, her spirit becoming more and more solid.

“Uh. Hi. That would be me,” Charlie mumbled. “I hope you don’t mind.”

Josie looked around, her red hair slipping from behind her ear. “Are we in the house between the worlds? My old house?”

“Yes,” Dean managed to utter, shifting under the spirit’s gaze. “And I’m the new guardian.”

“Hm,” Josie huffed. “A witch, a guardian, and who are you two?” she asked turning to Jo and Cas.

“I’m also a guardian. From the other side,” Jo explained, her voice unwavering, even though her face was white as a sheet.

“I’m an imaginary friend,” Castiel said calmly, the only person unfazed by the spirit’s presence. “I live here.”

Josie threw him a long glance. “Interesting. Now,” she turned back to Charlie. “Why are you summoning me? I was perfectly happy in the afterlife. I have no desire to be on this plane of existence.”

“Sorry,” Charlie apologized. “We just wanted to get to know you.”

“Why?” Josie furrowed her brow. “I’m sure there are dozens of more interesting people than me you could’ve summoned.”

“You were the previous guardian,” Cas said. “We’re interested in your story.”

“I’m sure my successor told you enough,” Josie said dismissively, taking the glass of wine and sipping from it.

“As far as we know I’m your only successor,” Dean chimed in. “And I had no idea about the portal until a few weeks ago.”

Josie seemed surprised. “What about Henry Winchester?” she asked, putting the wine back on the floor.

“How do you know about him?” Dean frowned. Josie should've been gone before Henry had bought the property. “He was my grandfather, but he never lived here, even though he owned the house.”

“Me and Henry…” Josie sighed, taking a step out of the chalk ring above their joined hands. “We were close. I thought I was leaving the house in good hands, but it looks like was too scared to keep the portal open.” She rested against an old trunk.

“You mean _close_ as in _a couple_?” Jo asked.

Josie laughed sadly. The room became even colder. “I certainly wished that was the case. But no, we were good friends. Henry would never leave his wife, not for me, not for anyone else.”

“So why did you leave the house to him?” Charlie asked, a cloud of breath visible in the air.

Josie looked somewhere above their heads. “I was raised by my grandma, who was also the guardian before me.” She smiled to herself. “She taught me everything she knew about the other world.” Her face became somber again. “After she died, I was completely alone. Then I met Henry, and soon he became the closest thing to a family I had. I told him about the portal and he seemed fascinated by it, asking thousands of questions. We were supposed to visit the other side together, but I died before we had a chance. I hoped he would continue without me, but I guess I was wrong.”

Dean swallowed. He knew next to nothing about his grandfather, so every story would be new to him no matter what, but he hadn’t expected to hear that Josie and Henry knew each other. It made sense when he thought of it, but for some reason it still felt like two worlds collided with each other in his head. Until now, he wasn’t even completely sure Henry knew about the portal. It was hard still to picture him with Josie, planning a trip to Old Grove.

Josie shifted her weight from one leg to another. “But enough about this. Let's not waste the opportunity, since I’m already here. What do you want to know?”

“How was it, guarding the portal in your times?” Castiel asked, focused.

“Boring, on most days.” Josie grimaced. “I’m sorry to disappoint. I loved visiting Old Grove, but besides that, there was nothing to do. Times when people traveled from one world to another were already in the past, and the existence of the portal wasn’t widely known anymore. It was better when my grandma was young, but by the time I came to live here, we had maybe two visitors a year from the other side, and nobody crossed the portal from ours.”

“That’s sad,” Jo said. “We have a whole bunch of people from our world visiting this one. Me and my mom had to actually turn some of them away from the Roadhouse, because we had no more rooms available. The word spread fast and now everyone wants to travel.”

“We’re planning to open a bed and breakfast here, in the house,” Dean said. He was slowly warming up to the idea, and it was easier to talk about it now than it was even a few days ago. “We want to make a place for people to stay on this side.”

“Really?” Josie raised her eyebrows. “Oh, I guess that’s a good thing. I would love to see this place full of people and bustling with life.” Suddenly she straightened, looking around in distress. “There is a dark presence in the house. I wasn’t sure before, but I feel it clearly now. You have to be careful.”

Dean felt chills on his back that had nothing to do with the cold. “A dark presence?”

Josie’s voice was almost shaking now. “Do you know how I died?”

“You were in a car crash,” Castiel supplied, confused.

“That’s not the whole truth.” Josie licked her lips. “There was something in the car. Something that wanted the power of the portal to itself.”

“Guys, I don’t wanna alarm you, but my power is waning,” Charlie interrupted, her voice strained. “I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to keep this up.”

Josie stood up, glancing at all of them. “Well, I guess it’s time to say goodbye,” she said, returning to the circle, her voice still slightly trembling. “I’m glad to see all of you here. It looks like the portal is finally in good hands.”

“Wait, you can’t just drop something like that on us and then go without explaining it,” Dean protested. If there was something dangerous in the house, he needed to know what.

“Dean, I don’t think we have time,” Charlie panted.

“I’m sure you will figure it out,” Josie said. “Goodbye. And good luck.”

“Thank you for talking to us,” Castiel said, dipping his head. “It’s been an honor.”

Josie nodded, and they let go of each other’s hands, breaking the circle. The spirit disappeared, almost like she was never there. Charlie sagged in her seat, rubbing her eyes. “I’m gonna need ten naps after this,” she said, as Jo blew out the candles, plunging the attic into the darkness.

\---

The news about something dark lurking in the house dampened everyone’s mood a little, but they did their best to ignore it. They had no proof that Josie was right, especially given that neither Charlie nor Cas could feel that anything was wrong. Charlie had a suspicion something could’ve tampered with her power to stop the séance, but if anything was really there, they would have to wait for it to show up before they did anything. For now, there were other things to take care of.

“Cas, we're not buying bedsheets with _rhinos_ on them.” Dean looked at the cute pattern like it’d offended him. “Nobody would take us seriously.”

“I don’t see the relevance,” Cas said with his eyes narrowed, putting the sheets back on the shelf.

“What about aliens?” Charlie asked. “Or tiny Harry Potters?”

Dean groaned. “I’m going to regret taking you shopping with me, aren’t I?”

Bed and breakfast preparations had finally sped up. Charlie and Cas helped a lot, both with the guest rooms and with the paperwork, which was good because Dean absolutely hated dealing with all the permits and licenses. They’d even managed to set up a currency exchange, thanks to Charlie. And after she’d admitted she’d had to resign from her previous job because of the toads, Dean had decided to officially hire her as his first employee. She’d almost strangled him with a hug when he’d told her.

“We’re taking the beige ones,” Dean decided.

“You’re boring, old man,” Charlie teased.

“Hey, Cas is much older than me!” Dean protested, putting the sheets in their cart.

“I’m young in spirit,” Castiel stated, checking out another set of sheets with llamas on them.

Dean looked at their shopping list with a sigh. “Okay, we still have curtains and towels to go.” Maybe Charlie wasn’t wrong about him being an old man, because he definitely felt like he was out with two children.

Henry Winchester’s money was dwindling quickly and Dean hoped that the bed and breakfast would be profitable enough to keep them afloat. Charlie had suggested advertising it in magical communities around the city and on the internet, to keep the guests coming. Hopefully it would work. And Dean could always take a part-time job as a mechanic if things didn’t work out as planned, so for once, he didn’t have to worry about the future that much. But he was going to worry anyway.

“Hey, did Jo tell you about the midsummer festival?” Charlie asked when they moved between aisles.

“Yeah, she invited us, but she was very cryptic about it,” Dean said. Jo hadn’t told them much, saying she didn’t want to ruin the surprise. If it was up to Dean, he would prefer to know beforehand what they were getting themselves into, but it seemed like Jo was having a lot of fun keeping it a secret. He wasn’t going to ruin that for her.

“Oh, well,” Charlie sighed. “I was hoping that maybe you knew more than me.”

“No such luck, unfortunately,” Dean said, turning right to the curtains aisle. Honestly, between the three of them, Charlie had the biggest chance to get anything out of Jo. If she didn’t know, that meant no one knew. “She really didn’t tell you anything?”

“Well, I asked why it’s still a month away and we had a long conversation about the differences between the worlds, but she didn’t want to say anything about the actual celebrations.” Charlie picked up furiously yellow curtains with a frown.

“I guess we’ll see,” Dean said, moving the cart towards less jarring colors.

\---

The month passed fast and Charlie, Cas and Dean turned up in the Roadhouse on a midsummer day, unsure what to expect. Dean had to admit Jo was very good at keeping secrets. She appeared not long after they’d gathered, walking from upstairs with four bags of colorful powder. “You will need this,” she said, handing the bags to them.

“Is this powder paint?” Charlie asked, sniffing her bag. “It looks like powder paint.”

“They’re powdered good luck charms,” Jo explained. “It’s customary to share good luck with people around you during the midsummer festival.” She puffed a small cloud of green powder, as if to emphasize her point. Charlie just sneezed in response.

“Sounds like fun,” Dean said, weighing the bag in his hand. The whole thing could end up either being an amazing experience or a total disaster. Either way, he’d find out soon.

“Wait till you see the streets.” Jo grinned.

As soon as they stepped outside the Roadhouse the world disappeared into clouds of colors swirling in the air. People were running around, laughing and shouting, throwing powder at each other. It was chaotic and overwhelming, like someone had plucked Dean up and tossed him into a pool of water without a warning.

Jo jumped into the crowd, spinning in circles and leaving a ribbon of colorful dust behind. Charlie ran after her, throwing handfuls of powder in the air. Jo kissed her in the middle of the street, their foreheads touching. They both seemed so happy, full of positive energy, like this was the best thing under the sun.

“What about us?” Dean asked, turning to Cas.

Castiel sent him a suspicious half-smile, dumping a large blue heap of powder on his head moments later.

“You little shit!” Dean laughed, bombarding running away Cas with violet charms.

They all stopped sometime later, covered in powder head to toe, breathing heavily and laughing. Dean discovered that, surprisingly, he absolutely loved it. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had so much fun. A wave of affection washed over him, as Jo threw her arms around him and Cas, grinning at Charlie. Knowing those three was a true blessing. He had some friends back in Sioux Falls, and he still texted them regularly, but for some reason it was never like _this_. This was something new and foreign and very, very exciting.

Jo took them to the fair, and they all had so much food they could barely move afterwards. Dean absolutely couldn’t look at caramel apples any more, and even pie wasn’t as appealing as it usually was. He still managed to drink the mead Jo ordered for them, sharing it with Cas, even while he complained that there should be a spell to make their stomachs bigger on the inside. There wasn’t, unfortunately, and Charlie suspected it would probably end up being a horrible curse anyway.

With their bellies bloated, they dragged themselves to a balcony to watch the parade passing through the streets. Jo said the route began near the roots of the temple of the forest and ended before the entrance to the temple of the sun, on the other side of the city.

Princess Gilda led the way, dressed in a purple gown, flowers braided in her hair. A group of deer people followed after her, their antlers decorated with small bells jingling softly with their every step. Behind them stretched a crowd full of folks covered in good luck charms, singing and dancing as they walked. More powder was thrown from the balconies, creating a slowly falling down canopy of colors.

It was entrancing to look at, and Dean felt himself smiling, a warm feeling spreading through his chest. He was glad he accepted Jo’s invitation. The whole festival was something he would never forget, and being there with people he liked only made it better.

After dark, people gathered in the clearings all around the city and small paper lanterns were passed among the crowds, ready to be lit up. Jo explained that the lanterns symbolized wishes sent to the sky in hopes that the gods would look at them kindly and allow them to come true. Dean wasn’t sure if lighting lanterns in the forest was a good idea, unless the plan was to burn everything to the ground.

“Is this safe?” he asked Jo skeptically, taking a lantern from her.

“Oh, they’re enchanted.” Jo waved her hand, handing another lantern to Charlie. “They can find their way between the branches without setting anything on fire and they disintegrate after a few hours. We wouldn’t do this if it was any danger to the forest. Though they still can blow your hands off if the enchantment isn’t cast right.”

“That’s reassuring,” Dean snorted, holding the lantern so that Cas could start the fire. He hoped Jo was just joking, but it was hard to tell with his little knowledge of magic.

Soon thousands of lanterns soared in the air, illuminating the night, yellow specks of light in the dark sky. Dean and Cas released theirs together, watching with their heads tilted back as they flew away. Dean didn’t know what to wish for, leaving that part to Castiel. Hopefully he was better at it than Dean. Somewhere in the distance, music started playing and people around moved with it, singing quietly.

Dean looked at Castiel with a smile, and Castiel grinned back at him, crinkles showing in the corners of his eyes. Cas’ face was completely covered in violet powder, smudges of orange and blue in his beard, specks of pink in his hair. He looked so unbearably gorgeous that Dean couldn’t look away, taking a step forward almost unconsciously. The word was spinning and something pulled him towards Cas like he was the center of the universe. Suddenly all Dean’s doubts went away, and he felt like an idiot for even having them in the first place.

He cupped Castiel’s face with his hand, brushing his cheek with a thumb, a smear of red powder marking its trail. Cas stared at him in wonder, his eyes shining brightly. Dean felt dizzy just from looking into them, not sure if it wasn’t another dream. He gently pulled Cas into a kiss, pressing their mouths together. Cas’ lips were soft and warm, tasting slightly sweet with the lucky charms dust. His hands left colorful handprints on Dean’s shirt as he moved them to the small of Dean’s back.

“My wish just came true,” he murmured softly.

Dean huffed. “I’m glad the gods decided to kick my ass and make me do it.”

“I’m not sure if the lantern had enough time to get to them.” Castiel scrunched his nose. “I think it was just you, Dean.”

“If you say so,” Dean said, catching Cas’ lips again. They kissed slowly, and even standing in the middle of a crowd on a midsummer night, they were all but unaware of all the people around them. It seemed stupid now, waiting for so long. The wait was over though, and Dean was ready to see where the road would take them next.


	5. Guests

The first guests arrived early in the autumn, when days became shorter and the trees around the house turned from lush green to bold oranges and yellows. It was weird in the beginning, having all those people around, but Dean adjusted fast and found himself enjoying cleaning and cooking for them. Coming up with items for the menu was a lot of fun, and even doing tons of laundry wasn’t that bad.

Speaking of which, Dean figured he should probably buy a few more containers of laundry detergent. He added that to the shopping list he was writing down. Housing eight people wasn’t easy, and the amount of stuff he needed to buy every week raised drastically. Not to mention all of the things he had to take care of on daily basis. At least Cas and Charlie were there to help with everything. Dean didn’t want to think what he would do without them.

His mind involuntarily moved from the shopping list to the movie night he was planning with Cas. They still hadn’t decided what they were going to watch, and knowing Cas he would make Dean see _How to Train Your Dragon_ for the tenth time if Dean didn’t suggest anything new. It wasn’t that important though, they were probably going to spend most of that time cuddling and kissing anyway. They did that a lot lately.

Things with Cas were good, better than Dean could’ve imagined, but somewhere inside Dean’s head there was this nagging feeling that something had to go wrong at some point. No matter how hard he tried to be happy, there was always a part of him waiting for the other shoe to drop. Good things never happened without a price, and he knew that sooner or later he would have to pay for his happiness.

He moved to the ingredients for cheese muffins he was planning to bake, when Charlie entered the kitchen. “Hey, Dean,” she said, snatching an apple from the basket. “There’s a big guy waiting in the living room, asking specifically for you. I think you should go and see him.”

“Sure.” Dean stood up, leaving the list on the table. “Can you take a look at this and see if I missed anything?” he asked. She nodded, biting the apple, and signaled him with a wave of her hand that he could go.

It was still pretty early and all the guests relaxed in the living room after breakfast. A couple from the other world, Anna and Ruby, was playing some kind of magic card game, the spells moving between cards in puffs of smoke. They’d been looking for a place where they could get away from Anna’s family, who were dissatisfied with her life choices. Going to another world seemed a little extreme, but hey, whatever worked for them.

In the corner, Victor and Bela were arguing with passion. Bela waved something that looked suspiciously like a rabbit foot and Victor shook his head, his arms folded. Whatever Bela was trying to sell, he wasn’t too eager to buy. Probably a wise decision.

Bela Talbot was a British woman who claimed to trade magical items, and planned to make business in Old Grove. Somehow Dean thought it was better not to ask what exactly she had for sale. It all looked awfully shady, and there was something about her that gave him chills.

Victor Henriksen looked like a guy that was dangerous to mess with. Nobody knew what he was doing in Old Grove and nobody dared to ask. Breadloaf liked him a lot though, using every occasion to sit in his lap, and Victor didn’t seem to mind. The guy couldn’t be that bad if he got along with the dreameater.

On the couch sat Kevin Tran, browsing a stack of books, one of Charlie’s toads next to him. Kevin was a son of a noblewoman from Old Grove, who came to learn about Dean’s world. He spent most of the time making furious notes and asking a lot of questions. Dean wasn’t always able to answer, but he did his best.

Hannah, Kevin’s guardian, walked back and forth, observing the whole room. Dean was pretty sure she couldn’t be human with her piercing gaze and slightly rigid demeanor, but he didn’t have the courage to actually ask her about it. Cas seemed to like her a lot, often spending time with her and talking about who knows what. For all Dean knew they could’ve been plotting world domination together.

And in the middle of it all stood very confused Sam Winchester with his too-long hair and a hideous orange shirt that Dean wanted to burn as soon as he saw it. “Sam? What are you doing here?” he asked. Sam hadn’t say anything about coming over when they’d last talked, and his visit caught Dean by surprise. Part of him was glad to see his brother, but the other part was having a moment of panic, thinking about all the magic stuff he wasn’t going to be able to explain.

“It’s been months since I last saw you.” Sam tried to smile, but it didn’t come out right, his forehead pinched. “What the hell, Dean? Who are all those people?”

Dean brushed a hand across his mouth. It was too late to hide all the magical aspects of his life. At this point the only thing he could do was to tell Sam everything. Oh well, his brother was about to get some pretty big news. “Uh. Come with me,” he said, leading Sam to the kitchen. It wasn’t a conversation they should have in front of the guests, especially in case Sam freaked out. Which Dean probably would in his place.

“So?” Sam asked, when they were alone.

“I opened a bed and breakfast,” Dean said, deciding to start with the easiest part.

“Wow,” Sam said, his eyebrows raised. “That’s… a big step. And you didn’t think about telling me?”

Dean looked away. He knew he should’ve, but it had been just easier not to. There was too much to the story Sam wouldn’t believe if he’d told him over the phone. “Uh, it just never came up. Sorry.”

“It never came up?” Sam repeated, his voice tense. “I’m sure you would find an occasion to tell me if you just tried. But you didn’t even try, did you?”

“I’m sorry Sam, okay?” Dean grumbled. “It’s not like I can turn back time and tell you now.”

“Okay, fine,” Sam sighed. “I guess a bed and breakfast is a good thing. But those people you have here? They all look… not right. There is something off about them. Not to mention I could swear I saw a talking cat when I was on the front porch. And why the hell there was a toad reading a book on the couch?” He didn’t hold back for sure.

Dean rolled his eyes. He was pretty sure the toad was just asleep on one of Kevin’s books. “My guests are fine,” he grumbled. “And toads don’t read, Sam.”

“And cats don’t speak!” Sam almost shouted. It seemed that the whole situation was getting to him.

Dean groaned. He had his suspicions about that one. “It wasn’t a cat,” he said.

As if on cue, Castiel entered the kitchen, probably drawn in by Sam’s raised voice. “Is there a problem?” he asked, hovering over Dean’s shoulder and glaring at Sam. Sam was bigger than Cas, but Cas looked pretty intimidating with his tattoos, blue hair and a beard. Dean would never admit it, but Cas defending him made him warm inside, a wave of affection spreading through his body.

“No.” Dean shook his head. “This is Sam, my brother,” he said. “And this is Cas, my… Um. My boyfriend.” The whole relationship thing was still new enough that Dean felt weird saying it out loud. “He’s an imaginary friend, who apparently decided to scare you in his cat form.” Dean threw Castiel a dirty look. Cas just shrugged, not looking apologetic at all. “He and Charlie, the redhead you’ve talked to, are helping me run this place.”

Sam opened and closed his mouth. “You have a boyfriend? Since when?” Of course he would focus on the least unusual part of what Dean had just said. It wasn’t even like Dean being with guys was something new to him. Though maybe he never imagined Dean actually having a successful relationship with anyone.

“Uh.” Dean frowned, throwing his arm around Castiel’s waist, his fingers brushing Cas’ side. The touch calmed him down, making it easier to speak. “It’s been a couple of months,” he said. It was probably another thing he should’ve told his brother, but again, there was just too much about it Sam wouldn’t believe.

Sam rubbed his forehead. “What does it even mean that he’s an imaginary friend?”

“I’m not human,” Cas supplied, his eyes smiling. It looked like he was having a lot more fun with this that he should.

Sam looked between them, like he was waiting for someone to laugh and say it was a joke. “You’re both out of your minds,” he said in the end.

Castiel sighed, vanishing and reappearing as a cat, and then turning back to his human form. It wasn’t a gentle way to show the point, but also probably the only one able to convince Sam that they were telling the truth.

Sam backed away. “That’s not possible!” he yelped, his eyes wide.

“It’s okay, Sam.” Dean did his best to sound reassuring. “I know this looks crazy, but there’s nothing to be afraid of. Uh. Maybe you should sit down for a bit.”

Sam listened to his advice, taking one of the chairs. “I don’t understand. This can’t be true,” he mumbled.

“Well, it is,” Dean said, his voice a little too gruff probably. “After some time you get used to it.”

“And you just… got used to it?” Sam asked. “I can’t imagine that.”

“I had a few months. It’s not bad, you know. Actually, it’s pretty great,” Dean said, looking at Cas with a small smile. When he thought of it now his life was pretty dull without the magic in it. Especially without Castiel.

“Is there anything else I should know?” Sam asked, his face hidden in his hands.

“Charlie’s a witch, most of the guests are from another world, and we have a magical portal in the basement,” Dean blurted out. Hopefully it wasn’t too much information at once.

Sam huffed. “You do realize how it sounds, right?”

“Yeah. But that’s the truth.” Dean shrugged.

“All right.” Sam swallowed. “Let’s start from the beginning.”

\---

After the initial shock, Sam took everything pretty well. He listened to Dean with attention, and asked occasional questions when something wasn’t clear. Talking to him about all that had happened came to Dean so naturally he was surprised by it. It was a relief to share the stories with his brother, to see someone else not accustomed to magic react to them. Dean should’ve done this months ago. Too bad he had been too afraid Sam wouldn’t believe in any of it. Better late than never though.

“Do you want to see Old Grove?” Dean asked, after he finished talking. He was sure Sam would love it as much as he did. The place was just that amazing.

Sam frowned. “Don’t you have a bed and breakfast to run?” he asked. “I mean, I would love to, but you know.”

“I’m sure Cas and Charlie can manage on their own for half a day,” Dean brushed him off.

“We can,” Cas agreed.

Sam licked his lips. “Okay. Let’s go there. I guess I won’t fully believe it until I see it,” he said, fidgeting in his seat.

Dean led Sam to the basement, observing with satisfaction how his eyes widened when he saw the portal. Not an unexpected reaction, given how impressive the stone arch looked. Dean wished he could tell his brother something more about it, but there wasn’t anything to tell. After their séance with Josie they decided to try finding out who’d built it, so far without any results. The structure was so old that any written records about it were probably long gone. But who knows, maybe one day they would get lucky and find something.

When they arrived at the Roadhouse, Ellen was behind the bar, cleaning glasses. It was still early enough that there weren’t any patrons yet, and the room was empty and quiet.

“Hey Ellen,” Dean said, coming out of the cellar.

Ellen didn’t even flinch at his sudden greeting. “Hi, Dean,” she said, putting the glass down. Dean had a theory her nerves were made out of steel and therefore nothing could scare her. “New guest?” she asked, giving Sam the once-over.

“No.” Dean shook his head. “This is my brother, Sam.”

“Uh. Hi.” Sam smiled awkwardly. “Nice to meet you, Ellen.”

“Welcome to Old Grove, Sam,” Ellen drawled, smiling back.

“Come on,” Dean urged Sam, pulling his sleeve. “We have a city to see.”

Once they got outside Sam turned around, gaping at the view. Dean waited patiently until Sam was able to compose himself again, though it took a couple of deep breaths. It was hard to believe he was in Sam’s place only four months ago. So much had changed that it seemed like a whole lifetime.

“This. This is amazing, Dean,” Sam said, looking around. “But how is it even possible?”

“You know. Magic.” Dean shrugged. “It’s best just to roll with it.” He would’ve gone crazy long ago if he had tried to analyze everything that was happening around him. Dean figured Sam should do the same for his own good.

“Huh,” Sam huffed, touching the nearest root. “Those trees are massive! I wonder how old they are.”

“They’re over a thousand years old,” Dean said, able to supply that information thanks to Jo.

Sam shook his head with disbelief. “Impressive.”

They took a stroll down the street, stopping every time Sam saw something interesting. Dean tried to remember everything Jo had told him and Cas, and share all the good bits with his brother. Jo would probably be much better at the tour, but to his surprise he wasn’t doing so bad either.

“How are things with Jess?” he asked sometime later, after a prolonged moment of silence. He wasn’t sure when it had happened, but somehow they’d grown apart since Sam had moved to California. Dean didn’t know as much about him as he used to, and talking about their everyday life got much more awkward. Maybe that was just how life was though.

“Good. They’re good.” Sam smiled. “I’m actually thinking about proposing soon.”

“Really? That’s awesome!” Dean exclaimed. Jess was intelligent and charming, a perfect match for Sam. Sometimes Dean felt weird knowing his brother was a grown-up man doing grown-up things. He still saw a teenage boy in him, excited about school, running around with his knees scraped. It was hard to believe how many years had passed since then.

“You’re going to be my best man, right? I mean, if she accepts,” Sam mumbled.

“Of course!” Dean said. He couldn’t be happier for his brother. “And don’t worry, she’s going to accept, everyone would want to have a sasquatch in the family.”

Sam snorted. “Yeah, right. So. You and Cas,” he changed the topic. “Is it serious?”

Dean looked up at the green tree crowns, taking a deep breath. “Yeah, I think it is. Cas… Cas is something special,” he said, flustered. The truth was he was completely gone for Castiel and he would follow him to the ends of the earth, no matter what. Cas was _it_ for him, and maybe Dean was naive, but even this early he was hoping that they could spend their whole lives together.

“I’m glad to see you happy, Dean,” Sam said, placing an arm on his shoulder.

Dean took Sam to some of the places he and Cas discovered during the last few months, showing him majestic temples and tiny shops filled with knick-knacks and old books, cafes between the roots and high balconies in the tree crowns. Sam seemed to enjoy himself a lot, taking everything in with wide eyes and thousands of questions.

The day passed quickly, and before they knew it was time to go back to the world they knew. Sam stopped for a minute when they crossed the portal, looking at its surface, his face hard to read. “Thank you, for that trip, Dean,” he said.

“No problem, man.” Dean shrugged. It was the least he could do after keeping everything away from Sam for months. His brother deserved to experience that new reality Dean had found himself in.

“You know, it’s still hard to grasp.” Sam gestured towards the stone arch. “What you do. Everything. But I think it’s good for you. You seem happier than you used to be.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Dean hadn’t thought about it much, but now when Sam mentioned it, he discovered with a surprise that his brother was right. He was happier. It was hard to believe it would last, but he decided to enjoy it as long as he could.

Upstairs they run into Castiel in the corridor, carrying a stack of sheets.

“Hey, Cas. Were there any problems?” Dean asked, stopping him.

Cas grimaced. “Bela tried to sell Charlie a pair of magic shoes which apparently are deadly to witches, but everything is under control,” he said. “Bela is sorry. Also, you should start making dinner if you don’t want me to burn down the kitchen.”

“All right.” Dean huffed. They were working on Castiel’s cooking skills, but Dean suspected he was a lost cause. “Are you sure Charlie is okay?” he asked, worried regardless of Cas’ reassurance.

“Yes, she’s fine.” Castiel nodded. “Though we have a small toad infestation in the downstairs bathroom.” The toads would disappear soon, so it seemed that the whole incident ended up without any real casualties. Dean was still going to check up on Charlie later.

“Okay, dinner time,” Dean said, then turned to Sam. “You’re staying to eat with us, right?”

Sam gave him a sheepish look. “I was hoping to stay for the night actually, if that’s not a problem.”

“Sure,” Dean agreed. “But uh, you’re going to have to take the couch, we don’t have any free rooms.”

“Sam can take my bed,” Castiel offered.

Dean furrowed his brow. “You’re not going to sleep tonight?” This was probably the first time it happened since he moved in. That’s an impressive track record for someone who claims he doesn’t need sleep.

Cas narrowed his eyes. “No, I’m going to sleep in yours.”

Oh. “Oh.” Somehow Dean didn’t think about that. “Well, I guess that’s settled,” he said, heading for the kitchen, his ears getting red despite his best efforts to act cool.

\---

Sam and Cas seemed to get along just fine, talking about something with passion as Dean prepared dinner. He smiled to himself, looking at them. It was nice to see his brother and his boyfriend together like that. Hopefully it was the first time of many more to come, as Sam had promised he would visit more often in the future.

Dean was just about to put his pumpkin soup off the stove when Kevin entered the kitchen, looking very uncomfortable. “Uh, sorry to interrupt, but Anna’s brother is here. And he seems pissed.”

“Shit.” Dean said, turning off the stove. Anna had mentioned that her family was a bag of dicks but Dean hadn’t thought they would actually come after her. That was a whole new level of fucked up.

As soon as they reached the corridor, Dean heard a loud male voice coming from upstairs. “…coming with me whether you want it or not! You should know your place!” Anna’s brother shouted. He sounded like a complete douchebag already.

“She’s not going anywhere you ass wipe!” Ruby shouted back. When they got there she was standing between Anna and her brother, her eyes fierce. She looked like she was ready to fight him if he tried getting any closer to his sister. Dean hoped they wouldn’t go that far.

Anna put a hand on Ruby’s shoulder, trying to calm her down. “Michael, please, leave us alone,” she pleaded. “I don’t want to fight you.”

Michael snorted. “And ignore that you’re in a relationship with a demon? You’re a disgrace to the whole family, Anna!” he spat. Dean wasn’t sure he wanted to know whether the demon part was just a figure of speech or not. Though Ruby seemed okay so maybe that wasn’t important anyway.

“Hey, watch it! I don’t want any scenes here,” he said, glaring at Michael, and moving between him and Ruby. His muscles were tense.

“I think you should leave,” Cas added, his voice cold. He could probably eat Michael for dinner in one of his animal forms. Too bad Michael didn’t know that. Yet.

Michael’s expression when he looked at them was full of distaste. “If I leave, Anna leaves with me.”

“I would listen to them if I were you.” Victor said, standing the doorway to his room, and giving Michael his most threatening look. Dean wouldn’t want to be on its other end.

“And who are you?” Michael raised his eyebrows.

“Detective Henriksen,” Victor introduced himself. “Believe me, you don’t want to mess with a cop.” That was a surprise. Dean would’ve never thought Henriksen was a cop; his bets were actually on him being a part of some gang. Pretty ironic.

“If that’s not enough I have some nice hex bags for Anna.” Bela chimed in. “Have fun waking up with your mouth full of worms.”

Moments later Charlie and Hannah joined them too, Hannah carrying a long triangular blade in her hands that Dean had never seen before. Despite the fact that Hannah was Kevin’s guardian, she was always thoroughly peaceful. The situation was getting a little out of control. Hopefully Michael would back down before Hannah decided to use it.

Michael looked between all of them. He was clearly outnumbered. “This is ridiculous!” he puffed, taking a step back, his resolve wavering.

Dean didn’t allow himself to relax just yet. “You are not welcome here. Ever,” he said. “I don’t want to see you again on this side of the portal.” He was going to tell Ellen and Jo to never let Michael through.

“I’m going to escort you back to your world now,” Victor announced, catching Michael’s arm. Fortunately, Michael complied. He glanced at his sister for the last time on his way out. “You may have won now, Anna, but you can’t run away forever,” he hissed, going down the stairs.

“Hey, are you two okay?” Charlie asked Anna and Ruby as soon as Victor and Michael disappeared.

“We’re going to be fine.” Anna smiled weakly, rubbing her eyes.

“We were thinking about staying in this world for good, but we don’t even know where to start,” Ruby added, throwing an arm around her shoulder in a reassurance. “Legally we don’t exist here.”

“I think I can help with that,” Charlie said with a smile. “I’ve been hacking since I was ten, so creating new identities for you shouldn’t be a problem.” Dean raised his brow. So not only was Charlie a witch, but also a hacker. The more you know, and all that.

Anna’s face brightened. “You would do that for us? It would be amazing!”

“Sure.” Charlie shrugged. “I’m good at it.”

“Is there anything you can’t do?” Dean asked.

Charlie grimaced. “Get rid of the toads, apparently.”

The rest of the evening passed in peace. Anna and Ruby retreated to their room pretty fast, in need of some privacy after the whole incident with Michael. Dean thanked everyone for help. Bela just shrugged, saying it was a pleasure, Hannah nodded with a small smile and Victor brushed it off, saying it wasn’t a problem. He was used to dealing with worse due to his job.

“It’s not usually like this, sorry,” Dean said to Sam, when everyone left. “Black Cat is a peaceful place most of the time, I swear.”

“It’s okay Dean. You couldn’t predict something like that.” Sam shrugged. “I’m glad it all ended well.”

“Yeah, me too,” Dean huffed. “Come on, I have a dinner to finish.”

\---

Dean wasn’t exactly sure why he and Cas had never shared a bed before. Somehow it just hadn’t come up. True, they’d been taking things _very_ slow, Dean not wanting to fuck anything up, but sleeping in one bed shouldn’t be a big deal. They’d been together for over two months, it wasn’t going to ruin anything. He still felt his skin buzzing with a mix of nervousness and excitement when he entered his room. Castiel, on the other hand, seemed totally relaxed, like this wasn’t anything unusual for them. Damn those imaginary friends.

“I’m sleeping on the left side,” Dean mumbled to distract himself.

“Okay,” Cas said, taking off his shirt. There was a new tattoo on his ribs, a honeycomb with bees and flowers, and Dean stopped changing into his pajama pants to take a look at it, take a look at Cas. Sometimes he still had to remind himself that he could do that, that it was something boyfriends did, something Cas probably wanted.

“I think I like Sam,” Castiel added, rummaging through the clothes drawer.

“Sam is a good guy,” Dean said, picking his clothes off the floor and folding them on the chair.

Cas chose one of Dean’s band tees and put it on. “You care for him very much,” he said, observing Dean.

“Yeah, I do,” Dean said. “For a long time it was us against the world, you know?” With John around Sam had been like a lifeline, pulling him through the shitty existence they’d had. Dean wasn’t sure he would’ve been there if not for the constant awareness that his brother had needed him, accompanying him most of his childhood. “It was the only way to survive when we’d been living with our father. And even later, when we left, we always stuck with each other.” Living with Bobby, they still stayed inseparable for years. “Sam will always be important to me, even though we’re not as close as we used to be.”

“I wish I had someone like that for all those years I’ve spent here.” Castiel sat on the bed,taking off his pants and throwing them on the floor. “I was alone for so long that having other people in my life became an abstract thought.” He made a pause, looking at his hands. Dean sat down next to him, waiting for him to continue. Cas looked back, a slight smile on his lips. “And then you moved in, and breathed life into everything. With you I feel more alive than I ever did,” he said.

Dean caught his chin, pulling him closer, pressing a gentle kiss to his mouth. “I’m glad that you’re here,” he whispered. Castiel moved into his lap, his thighs on Dean’s sides, catching his lips again and kissing him slowly, his breath warm on Dean’s mouth. “Me too,” he murmured, their foreheads touching.

Dean moved back, resting on his elbows, taking in the sight. Cas was as dazzling as always, with his messy hair and lean body. The t-shirt was slightly too big on him and Dean absolutely loved how he looked in it. There was something very hot about seeing Cas in his clothes, and a wave of warmth spread through his body. “You’re beautiful,” he said.

“I guess you’re not so bad either.” Cas grinned, pushing him down. Dean dragged him into another kiss, his hands on Cas’ back, tracing Castiel’s lips with his tongue. Cas hummed happily, moving his hand to Dean’s pants. That was new.

“Is this going where I think it’s going?” Dean asked, catching breath. He couldn’t decide if he was more hopeful or terrified. What if sex ended up being terrible? It would be so awkward that he wouldn’t be able to look at Cas for at least a week.

Castiel scrunched his nose. “Perhaps. That depends on what you think.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Cas,” he groaned.

“Okay,” Cas sighed. “Yes, it is.”

“Are you sure about this?” Dean asked.

“Yes.” Cas nodded. “You?”

“Of course, Cas.” He could’ve been terrified but he was also extremely turned on. “But we have to be quiet. I don’t want to have any complaints from the guests tomorrow.”

“Sure,” Cas said, kissing him once more.

They stayed as quiet as possible, kissing and touching each other, and Dean quickly realized that it was the opposite of terrible. It was amazing to have Cas so close, to listen to the rhythm of his breath, to feel his hands on his body. He looked into Cas’ eyes, as Cas praised him in a hushed voice, his pupils dilated. Dean wanted that moment to last forever; the impossibility of that was completely unfair.

Afterwards, when they finished and cleaned up, Dean lay spent, slowly drifting away. He was completely astonished by the fact that Cas wanted him, wanted to be with him. Not to mention it was nice to have someone lying next to him, a warm presence close to his side. He felt safe and calm, Castiel’s steady breath lulling him to sleep.

“Do you think we’re alone in this universe?” Cas asked, his sudden question rousing Dean brutally.

Dean groaned. “I don’t know Cas, go to sleep.”

“There is life in other worlds, so why not on other planets?” Castiel didn’t give up.

“Hmpf.” Dean covered his ears with a pillow. It didn’t help.

“What if we’re wrong, what if the place we’re visiting isn’t another universe, what if it’s just a different galaxy?”

Dean turned to the side, glaring at Cas. “Cas, I’m going to smash you with a pillow if you don’t shut up.”

Castiel sighed, looking at the ceiling, and it seemed that he wasn’t going to say anything else. Dean closed his eyes, trying to go back to sleep.

“My feet are cold,” Castiel grumbled after a few minutes.

Dean groaned again. “Come here,” he said, raising his arm and waiting for Cas to move. Cas turned his back to him, shuffling closer, until he was resting against Dean’s chest. Dean intertwined their legs, grimacing when Cas’ cold feet touched his calves. “Is it better now?” he asked.

“Yes,” Cas mumbled into the pillow.

They fell asleep bundled up together, sharing the warmth, their breaths leveled out. Dean was happy.


	6. The Monster

After their first night together, Cas’ stuff started oh-so-mysteriously appearing in Dean’s room. Some days Dean would find a new stack of books; others brought a bunch of weird rocks, a pair of socks with a cat print on them, or some planting charts Cas found on the internet. It lasted for a while, until Dean officially asked Cas to move to his room. Castiel was already sleeping there more often than not, but he seemed very pleased with Dean’s offer. Soon Dean’s room became _their_ room and they decided to turn Cas’ old room into another guest bedroom.

Dean went back to Missouri. Somehow talking to his brother helped him make that decision, even though he hadn’t been able to for over three months. He wasn’t sure why, but seeing Sam made him realize how passive he’d been most of the time. He’d accepted the magic happening around him, but no more than that. Now he wanted to become a part of it, an integral piece of this new world he was slowly discovering. He wanted to learn about his ability.

As soon as Missouri saw him on her doorstep, she scolded him for leaving without a goodbye the last time he’d been there. Her offer to help was still standing, though, and Dean started spending a few hours every day at her place, trying to focus on the magic currents around and feel their flow. It was a slow process, but he was making progress bit by bit, and Missouri expected him to master his skills in a few years.

Most of the old guests had left and new ones arrived. Hannah and Kevin were still there, joined by Dorothy Baum, an adventurer searching for new experiences outside of her world. In Dean’s opinion Lawrence was too boring to find anything there, but it was just the first stop on her journey, so hopefully she was going to see a lot of more interesting places in the near future. Then there was a married couple, Tracy and Ellie, a pair of monster hunters on vacation. Dean didn’t even know there was such a thing until he’d met them, but it was good to know there was someone keeping monsters in line. The last guest was Cassie Robinson, Charlie’s friend, a young writer looking for inspiration in Old Grove. The city was bustling with magic so it seemed to be a good choice. Dean was eager to read whatever Cassie created.

Days passed. Dean expected Cas’ garden to turn into nothing but a brown patch of ground, but to his surprise it continued to be full of blooming flowers. There were dahlias with their full blossoms, delicate hibiscus, long stems of sage and purple coneflowers, and others Dean didn’t know but still found beautiful. A small colorful heaven in the middle of the world readying for winter. Dean wasn’t into gardening, but he had to admit it was gorgeous to look at. Especially combined with Cas tending to it, his back hunched over, knees stained with grass, humming something softly. Dean was pretty sure that was the best part.

Dean sat on the porch with a beer in his hand, admiring the view. They were alone in the house; all the guests were out in Old Grove, so they had the evening to themselves. Dean would prefer to spend it making out on the couch, but apparently Cas had other plans. It was hard to believe Dean had lost against a bunch of flowers, but he did his best to take that loss with pride.

“Hey, could you turn into a dragon?” he asked out of blue, letting his thoughts wander.

Cas sighed. “I’m not turning into a dragon, Dean.”

“Come on, Cas! Why not?” Dean took another swing of his beer. “It would be awesome!”

“Dragons take up a lot of space and scare people,” Cas pointed out, weeding with great gusto.

Dean put his beer on the floor. “What about a little dragon?” he asked, getting up.

“No.” Cas’ voice was firm. It was clear Dean had no chance of convincing him.

“You’re no fun, you know?” he grumbled, moving closer.

Cas huffed. “You like me anyway.”

“True.” Dean moved his hand over Castiel’s back, kneeling next to him, and stopped at the nape of his neck, pulling him into a kiss. “But I would like you more if you turned into a dragon.”

“How dare you,” Cas sighed with fake exasperation, moving back a little. “Well, I guess I will have to find a way to live with that knowledge, because I’m _not_ turning into a dragon.”

“Too bad.” Dean kissed him again, sucking on his lower lip, pulling him even closer. They tumbled into the grass, earthy smell filling Dean’s nostrils. Cas moved on top of him, pressing soft kisses to his neck, his chin, the corners of his mouth. He caught Dean’s hands and pushed them to the ground next to his head, intertwining their fingers. Dean hummed with approval, catching his lips.

Something shifted in the house, a presence that Dean hadn’t felt there before. It was more a gut feeling than anything else, but somehow he _knew_. Maybe the stuff Missouri had been teaching him was working, maybe it was something else, it didn’t matter. He stopped in the middle of a kiss, his stomach twisting with worry. “Wait. Something is wrong,” he said, pushing Cas away.

“Dean?” Castiel asked, his brow furrowed.

Dean tried to swallow the lump in his throat, remembering Josie’s warning. “Something is in the house, Cas.”

They entered the house taking careful steps, and moved slowly upstairs, expecting to bump into a monster around every corner. Dean’s heart pounded in his chest, almost jumping out of it, his back covered in cold sweat. Black Cat was eerily quiet, like the whole building was waiting for something to happen. Even the usual creaks and groans were absent and the silence rung hollow in Dean’s ears.

The feeling of an alien presence grew stronger as they moved closer to their room. It seemed that whatever was in the house waited for them behind that door. Dean didn’t feel ready to face it. They didn’t have much choice though and after a short nod from Cas he pushed the handle and swung the door open.

At first the room appeared to be empty, but then Dean heard quiet burbling coming from the ceiling. He looked up, unsure what he was going to see. The patch of mold he kept forgetting about looked like it was boiling, small bubbles of gas escaping it.

“What the hell?” Dean grimaced. He knew mold could be dangerous, but this was something new.

Thick black goo started dripping down, but Dean and Cas stood practically glued to the floor. The goo piled up higher and higher, forming a humanoid shape with long tendrils and tentacles slithering around. It was absolutely disgusting, but transfixed Dean at the same time. He couldn’t look away.

Chills went down his spine when he realized that they weren’t equipped to fight that thing. Clearly facing it was a dumb idea. They had to get out of the house, but where were they supposed to go? And if they left, would the monster try to get through the portal and attack people in the Roadhouse? What about their guests?

“We need to get to Old Grove,” Dean decided, already turning around. Cas nodded, following after him. They ran down the stairs as fast as possible, almost tripping over their own feet. Dean didn’t have to look back to know that the creature was already in the corridor. They had to hurry.

They stumbled into the portal room out of breath, the monster still following them. A low hissing pierced the air, sending a new wave chills down Dean’s back. He was almost sure he heard word _mine_ , but it could be just his imagination. He didn't dare to look back. There was no time for that anyway.

“Ellen? Jo? I need you here!” Dean shouted as soon as he jumped out of the portal on the other side. Cas was right behind him, his hand on Dean’s back. Somehow it grounded Dean, keeping the panic away. He was glad he wasn’t alone. He didn’t know what he would do without Cas being there

There were quick steps on the stairs and Ellen appeared in the cellar seconds later.

“Dean? Cas? What’s wrong?” she asked, looking between them, her brow furrowed.

“Close the portal. NOW,” Dean urged her. Ellen moved swiftly to the portal without asking any more questions, and placed her hand on the arch, the liquid surface disappearing. Dean sighed with relief, adrenaline leaving his system. They were safe for now.

\---

The Roadhouse was almost empty, the only patrons being Tracy and Ellie, sipping beers at the bar. Dean and Cas sat next to them, as Ellen poured them all tumblers of whiskey. Dean was glad there was no one else there; he needed a few moments of peace and quiet after running for his life just moments ago.

“So, what happened?” Ellen asked. “Why did you want me to close the portal?

“You had to close the portal? Why?” Tracy turned towards them, eyes lit up with interest.

“There is a monster at the Black Cat,” Dean said, taking a big gulp of whiskey. “We barely escaped.”

“It was hiding in our room pretending to be a patch of mold,” Castiel explained. “I think it’s a leviathan. I’m not sure though.” A leviathan. It was nice to be able to put a name to the thing that had attacked them, but it didn’t seem to change much. Dean still had no idea what to do about the whole thing.

“What did it look like?” Ellie asked.

“Like a big pile of slime with tentacles.” Dean grimaced. “I won’t ever be able to unsee that. It chased us to the basement.”

“Yeah, it’s definitely a leviathan.” Ellie nodded.

“You’re lucky you got out without a scratch,” Ellen commented. “I’ve heard leviathans are pretty dangerous.”

“We still have to do something about that thing,” Dean rubbed his eyes with a hand. “We can’t hide in here forever.”

“It’s good that you have us,” Tracy said with a half-smile. “We know how to fight it.”

“Really?” Dean felt part of the weight lifted from his shoulders. Maybe that day wasn’t as bad as it looked like.

“We’ll need some preparation but we can definitely get rid of it,” Ellie added.

“I’m going with you,” Castiel said, his voice decisive. Dean couldn’t believe he heard that right.

“If he’s going, then I’m going too,” he said, putting his empty glass on the counter with a bang.

Tracy frowned. “That’s a bad idea. You’re not hunters. It’s too dangerous.”

“Dean should stay, but I’m an imaginary friend, nothing will happen to me,” Castiel persisted. “It’s my house and you could use an additional pair of hands.”

“Well, it’s my house too, and I’m not staying here,” Dean argued. The military training John had put him and Sam through years ago could come in handy again. Who would've thought he would use it to fight monsters? “Besides, you need me to close the portal on the other side to make sure that the monster doesn’t escape here.”

“That’s actually a good point,” Ellie admitted. “Okay, it looks like you’re going with us.”

Dean couldn’t decide whether he should be happy about that or not. His mind already supplied him with all the worst case scenarios, scenes of Cas lying on the floor bloody and maimed flashing before his eyes. They weren’t going to be alone, though, and as far as he knew Tracy and Ellie were both experienced in hunting monsters, so he was probably overreacting. He told himself that everything was going to be fine. He even almost believed it for a few seconds.

\---

They went back to the house as soon as Tracy and Ellie deemed them ready, armed with vials of detergent, of all things. Tracy and Ellie said it could take down the leviathan. Something about their body chemistry. Weird, but whatever worked. Dean closed the portal behind them, and they moved slowly through the basement, checking every room and every corner. They didn’t find anything except dried smudges of black slime on the walls. Dean didn’t know whether it was a good or a bad thing.

According to Tracy and Ellie, leviathans liked to nest near places of power, feeding on them and growing stronger with passing time. The portal seemed to be a perfect choice, an almost endless source of energy in a secluded location, far from anyone’s interest. The problem now was that people insisted on living in the house and using that power for themselves. They had to be eliminated and poor Josie seemed to had been the first victim.

“We should split up and search the rest of house,” Dean suggested when they reached the stairs.

“Splitting up is never a good idea.” Ellie grimaced. “Have you ever watched any horror movie?”

“Come on, we can handle ourselves,” Dean protested. “And those movies are called fiction for a reason.”

Tracy sighed. “If that’s your decision, then fine. Me and Ellie can take the first floor.”

“Then we’re going to the second.” Cas nodded.

The first room they checked was empty, and so was the second one. With every new door they opened, Dean’s muscles got a little tenser. He tried to focus on thinking that Cas was there, right next to him, and that they knew how to kill the leviathan, but for some reason he couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. He was a pessimist like that, always had been.

Then they opened the door to Dorothy Baum’s room, and a pile of black goo rose from the floor, bubbling and hissing. It reached out to them with its greedy tendrils and tentacles, writhing them around.

“Dean, watch out!” Cas pushed Dean back as one of the tendrils shot up, an oval mouth with rows of teeth opening at its end. It caught Castiel’s chest, sticking to it with a sucking noise. He grunted in pain, trying to tear it away. For a moment it seemed that it wouldn’t let go but then he smashed one of the vials, and the tendril retreated, its end charred. Cas backed away immediately, closing the door behind them.

“Fuck! Cas, are you all right?” Dean asked, his voice tense.

Castiel looked at his bleeding torso with confusion. “I don’t understand. The wound should’ve closed already.”

Dean brushed a hand across his mouth. He didn’t feel like opening the door again and trying to finish off the leviathan while Castiel was standing there with a big chest wound. Tracy and Ellie were right; they shouldn’t have split up, but it was too late to change that. Now they had to do everything not to make it even worse. “We need to find Tracy and Ellie. Can you move?” he asked, as the black goo started leaking through the cracks around the door.

Cas nodded, white as a sheet. “Yes. It’s nothing serious. I’m sure I will be able to heal any minute now.”

“Okay, let’s go,” Dean said, heading for the stairs. Cas stumbled after him, propping himself against a wall. Dean threw an arm around him, and they both wobbled down the stairs. The monster followed close after them and Dean had a sense of deja vu, reminding him of their earlier escape. The difference was that now Castiel was wounded, bleeding all over his shirt. Dean wished he turn back time.

“Tracy! Ellie!” he shouted when they reached bottom of the stairs. “I need your help!”

The hunters appeared almost immediately, running out of the kitchen.

“Oh shit,” Tracy said as soon as she saw Castiel.

Ellie was already throwing detergent at the leviathan, as it sizzled and groaned, black substance splashing around everywhere. The monster waved one of its tentacles, shoving her across the corridor. Tracy took her place immediately, and more detergent landed on the leviathan’s slick body.

Dean was reluctant to leave Cas alone, but after a short debate with himself, he joined Tracy, bombarding the leviathan with everything he had. He wouldn’t be able to take proper care of Cas as long as this thing was alive anyway. The monster tried to back away to the living room, leaving a wide trail of black goo behind it, but Ellie cut it off, sending the rest of the detergent its way.

The leviathan shuddered, collapsing into itself. Dean felt a surge of excitement running through his body, despite what was happening to Cas. They were going to win, he could see that now. Soon everything that was left of the leviathan was a wet puddle of slime on the floor and black splashes on the walls. Dean turned with a smile to Cas, but it fell as soon as he saw Cas slumped against the wall, his eyes half closed. He was still bleeding.

“Cas, we need to get you to the Roadhouse,” Dean said, cupping Castiel’s face. “Do you hear me?”

Cas nodded weakly. Dean helped him get up, and Cas leaned heavily on his shoulder, swaying a little.

“We’re heading back.” Dean said to Tracy and Ellie, still examining the remains of the leviathan. “I don’t think Cas should stay here much longer.”

“We’ll be right behind you.” Tracy cast them a worried look. “We just have to make sure we really killed it and not just forced it into its dormant state.”

“Will you be all right on your own?” Ellie asked.

“I hope so,” Dean huffed, dragging Cas in the direction of the basement.

By the time they reached the portal room, Cas could barely move his feet, and his face was covered in sweat. Dean tried telling himself that Castiel was an imaginary friend and nothing could harm him for real, but one look at Cas’ chest, which kept bleeding, was enough to make him seriously doubt that.

As soon as they crossed to the other side, Cas collapsed in his arms, his eyes completely closed now, shirt drenched in blood. “Fuck,” Dean muttered, trying to keep him up. At least he was still breathing. Dean didn’t want to think what he would do if he wasn’t.

Jo was waiting for them in the cellar, and she got up from the floor as soon as she saw them. “Fuck, what happened?” she asked, her voice getting higher than usual.

“He got bitten by the leviathan.” Dean’s whole body was trembling. He sagged to the floor, Cas still in his arms. He took a few deep breaths. “We need to move him somewhere that isn’t the cellar floor and stop the bleeding. He shouldn’t be bleeding, Jo.” He said the last words almost like a plea, like it could heal Cas somehow.

“We can put him in one of the rooms upstairs,” Jo said with a huff, helping him carry Castiel up the stairs. “And I’m going to send someone to get Missouri. If there’s a problem with his magic, she should be able to help.”

Dean nodded, swallowing hard. Missouri could help. Cas was going to be okay.

Cas _had to_ be okay.

\---

The room was dark but Dean could feel something moving in it, the same alien presence he felt earlier. A single beam of light shot from somewhere above, illuminating a tangled mass of tendrils and tentacles in the middle of the floor. They moved up, entwining together until they formed a familiar shape. Cas. He looked at Dean with empty eyes, black slime oozing out of his nose and ears. His shirt was stained with blood, an oval hole in it, revealing a circle of rotting flesh where the monster had bitten him.

“Cas, _please_ ,” Dean whimpered. He wasn’t sure what he was trying to say. Cas was supposed to be okay, not become _this_. Dean couldn't lose him like that. He wasn’t ready. He would never be.

Castiel’s face started shifting, his hair grew longer, turning lighter and lighter until the person standing in front of Dean had changed. Mary Winchester smiled back at Dean now, but the expression felt unnatural, her mouth full of long, sharp teeth. A black substance trickled out from between her lips. “You can’t save anyone, Dean,” she said, her voice too sweet.

Dean almost fell off the chair he’d fallen asleep on, catching his breath in big gulps. Cas lay in bed next to him. He was sweaty and unconscious, his chest bandaged, but he was still himself and breathing, and Dean felt dizzy from relief. It was only a dream. He rubbed his eyes and looked around. It was already dark outside, the lanterns lighting up the streets.

Missouri had come as fast as she could, bringing potions and herbs with her, and an air of hope Dean desperately needed. She’d concluded that the bite was poisoned and even though she had something to fight the poison off, only time would show if Castiel would recover. His chances were good, given that he wasn’t human, but at the same time the whole situation shouldn't have happened at all so it was hard to tell how he would react to the treatment.

Dean got up, his joints cracking, and glanced at Cas, reluctant to leave him alone. He had to go though, to check on the guests and see if Tracy and Ellie came back. Castiel was going to be okay, even if Dean wasn’t there to watch him all the time. He repeated that a few times in his head, but it didn’t get any easier to believe.

A wave of sound crashed into him downstairs, people talking and laughing like everything was fine. For them, it was just another ordinary night. Part of Dean envied them. How could anyone be so happy when Cas lay wounded and unconscious above? He spotted Jo and Charlie talking with Tracy and Ellie at the bar, and headed there. He had to squeeze between a bunch of sweaty bodies, maneuvering around them. He’d never hated being in a crowd more.

“Hey, you’re up!” Tracy saw him first. “We didn’t want to wake you but there’s some good news.”

“Yeah? What news?” he asked, not letting his hopes raise. The day couldn’t get much worse, but it was also hard to imagine it could get any better.

“We made sure that the leviathan is dead for good. The Black Cat is safe again.” Ellie smiled.

“Also it’s a miracle, but we managed to get rooms here for all our guests,” Charlie said. “I mean Hannah and Kevin just went home, but for everyone else.”

It _was_ good news. “That’s awesome!” Dean said, trying to smile. It didn’t exactly work out, but who could blame him for not being in a smiling mood.

“How’s Cas?” Charlie asked, worry in her eyes.

“I don’t know.” Dean grimaced. “He’s still unconscious.”

“Mom says Missouri thinks he’s strong enough to live,” Jo chimed in. “He will be all right, I’m sure,” she tried to reassure Dean, putting a hand on his shoulder.

A sudden lump appeared in Dean’s throat, making it hard to talk. “Yeah, I hope so,” he managed to mutter, looking away. Because what if Cas wasn’t going to be all right?

\---

Dean didn’t sleep much that night. It seemed like hours passed in slow motion. The afternoon found him pacing back and forth next to Castiel’s bed. The helplessness was going to kill him. He needed to be able do something, to help Cas somehow, not to just sit around and wait. But waiting was the only thing he could do. Waiting and hoping that Cas would get better.

He sat down, his knee jumping. Castiel looked pale and sweaty, his hair plastered to his forehead. Dean brushed Cas’ forehead clean, his moves gentle. Cas had woken up for a few minutes in the morning and it seemed that whatever Missouri had given him was working, which was a relief. He’d still been feverish, though, and had said only something about pancakes before falling back asleep.

Dean didn’t know what to do with himself. He figured he probably should go back to the Black Cat to clean it after the leviathan invasion and see how his guests were doing. But mostly he just wanted to sit next to Cas, watching his chest rise and fall in a steady rhythm. It calmed him down, knowing that Castiel kept breathing.

He decided to stay.

One of the only memories Dean had about his mother was from when he was three and caught a terrible cold. Back then, it felt like he was dying. Mary sat with him the whole night, singing him “Hey Jude” in a hushed voice. Somehow he felt that the song helped, making his recovery faster. Maybe it would help Cas too.

“ _Hey Jude,_ ” he started, stroking Castiel’s hair. “ _Don't make it bad. Take a sad song and make it better. Remember to let her into your heart, then you can start to make it better._ ”

Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but while Dean sang, it seemed like Cas’ face relaxed a little. It wasn’t much, but it was something.

The sound of someone clearing their throat came from the door, making Dean jump. He raised his head, blushing. No one was supposed to hear that. He would probably be ashamed even if Cas knew.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Charlie said, looking somewhere next to Dean’s ear. “We’re moving the guests back to BlackCat. I thought you’d want to know.”

Dean let out a long breath, rubbing his face. “Thanks Charlie. I don’t know what I would do without you.” Someone had to take care of the whole mess while Dean was losing his head worrying about Cas. He was glad Charlie was there, keeping her finger on the pulse of the whole situation.

“Don’t get too happy yet,” Charlie added. “There’s still a lot of cleaning to do and I’m sure you’ll get your fair share of that as soon as Cas is up.”

Dean huffed. “As long as Cas is okay, I can take any amount of cleaning, Charlie.”

\---

Cas got better. It took a few days and a few more visits from Missouri, but he got better, and Dean was so relieved and happy he couldn’t get the smile off his face. Cas was still weak, but he was on his way to recovery. Everything was going to be fine.

“I still don’t understand,” Dean said, sitting next him on the bed. “This shouldn’t have happened. You said it yourself.”

Cas narrowed his eyes, his expression hard to read. “Missouri suspects it’s because I’m becoming more human.”

“More human?” Dean asked, raising his eyebrows. He wasn’t sure how Cas could become more human. Being an imaginary friend didn’t seem to be something that could change just like that.

“Yes.” Castiel nodded, catching Dean’s hand and entwining their fingers together. “She said that by feeling more, by living to my full potential, I’m becoming _real_.”

That was unexpected. Or maybe not, if Dean thought about it. “Let me guess, it started when I moved in,” he said, trying to keep his voice neutral. Castiel stayed silent. “Fuck.” Dean looked away, licking his lips. “I knew this was just too good to last. I knew it.” Of course he and Cas would have to break up if Castiel wanted to stay an imaginary friend. Cas would have to leave. Cas would have to leave and Dean didn’t know if he would be able to continue his life without him, now that he knew how it was to have him around, to wake up every morning next to him. It felt like his world was ending.

“Dean, shut up,” Cas almost growled, squeezing his hand. “I don’t regret this,” he said, his voice sincere. “And I’m not going anywhere. I love you.”

Dean’s heart skipped a beat, unprepared to hear that. Somewhere deep inside he knew it already, but hearing those words leaving Castiel’s mouth was a whole different thing. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, unable to form a response.

“I love you too, you asshat,” he finally mumbled. “Just. Never scare me again like that, okay?” There was still something dark in the corners of his mind, something telling him that he should get away from Cas for Cas’ own good, but he did his best to ignore it. Cas wanted to be there with him and that was most important.

“I can’t promise anything,” Cas shook his head, his eyes smiling. “But I can try.”

Dean tilted his head back looking at the ceiling. “Man, I’m gonna need a vacation after this,” he said with a sigh.

“Let’s do it then,” Cas murmured.

Dean frowned. “What?”

“Let’s go on a vacation, as soon as I feel better.” Cas looked at him, new passion in his eyes. “Just the two of us,” he added.

“Really?” Dean asked, surprised. He wasn’t thinking about _actually_ going on vacation when he said that, but Castiel’s enthusiasm was contagious. “Okay, where would you want to go?”

“Well, we never went anywhere beyond Old Grove,” Castiel said thoughtfully. “We could travel, see the sights. Maybe look for information about the creators of the portal.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Dean agreed, planting a soft kiss on Castiel’s lips. It was nice to have something to look forward to, even if it was just a thought for now. Dean knew they would make it happen.

\---

There was a single tree in the middle of a meadow, its leaves rustling softly in the wind. Dean walked in that direction through the knee-high grass, shading his eyes from the sun with his hand. Mary Winchester sat on a swing, moving back and forth without tearing her feet from the ground. “I’m proud of you, Dean,” she said, smiling at him, her eyes full of warmth.

Dean waited for something terrible to happen with a lump in his throat. Nothing did, though; there was just a warm, sunny day and his mother on a swing. Mary stood up, and moved closer, hugging him tightly. “You deserve to be happy, honey,” she murmured, her arms tight around him.

“I love you so much, Mom,” he mumbled, his voice muffled by her shoulder. “I wish you could meet Cas.”

“Me too,” she sighed. “I’m glad you two have each other.”

The dream dissolved slowly and Dean woke up, his eyes wet. He knew that the Mary he saw wasn’t _real_ , but his heart still fluttered happily in his chest. He turned to the side, throwing his arm around Cas, and nuzzling into his neck. A sense of peace washed over him, and he fell back asleep, without any more dreams.

\---

It took them a few weeks to get ready. Dean wanted to make sure Cas was fully recovered, and fussed over him until Cas threatened he would throw Dean out of their bed. The threat worked and Dean toned down his constant fretting, letting Cas take care of himself in peace.

After that, they focused on studying maps of the other world, planning routes and piling up supplies. They also had to make sure Black Cat was taken care of; they couldn’t just leave everything on Charlie’s head. Fortunately, Anna and Ruby agreed to help when Charlie contacted them. They were still settling into their new life and a job, even a temporary one, was going to help with that a lot. Dean was just glad they could leave bed and breakfast in the hands of someone they already knew.

Then came the day when there was nothing more to do. Everything was planned and packed; Charlie, Ruby, and Anna had everything under control in the house. Dean and Cas could finally leave, start their journey across another world. They said their goodbyes and took off, leaving everything and everyone they knew behind.

It was early morning when they stood on the edge of Old Grove, looking at the path before them leading into the unknown. Droplets of dew still clung to the leaves, shining in the rising sun. Dean glanced at Cas, adjusting his backpack, sudden doubt making his stomach turn. Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe they should turn back and forget about the whole idea. It wasn’t too late yet.

Castiel smiled at him, crinkles showing in the corners of his eyes. He still looked a little worn out, and somehow more human than ever before. His hair was a mess, his gray plaid rumpled, and there was a tear in his jeans. And Dean loved him, all of him, so much it made his heart swell.

Cas stretched his arm to him. “Come on, we have a whole world to see,” he said, his voice gentle.

Dean swallowed, putting his hand in Cas’, the moment of doubt already passing. He was going to follow Cas wherever he went. They were together in this. They would always be. Not waiting any longer, they took first steps on the path stretching before them. They had a whole world to see, after all.


End file.
